Zeitschrift für Adipositas- und Gewichtsverlusttherapie

Abstrakt

Changes in Knee Pain, Perceived Need for Surgery, Physical Function and Quality of Life after Dietary Weight Loss in Obese Women Diagnosed with Knee Osteoarthritis

Kamary Coriolano, Alice B Aiken1, Mark M Harrison, Caroline F Pukall, Brenda J Brouwer and Dianne L

Objectives: This pilot study had two main objectives, the first aimed to investigate whether weight loss is associated with a reduction in perceived need for Total Knee Replacement (TKR) surgery due to decrease in knee pain and improvement in function. The second aimed to identify whether change in body weight would directly affect reduction in knee pain to a point where the need for surgery could be prolonged or alleviated. 34 subjects were recruited into the study. Design: Women between 40 and 65 years old with morbid obesity (BMI ≥ 35 kg/m2) and osteoarthritis of  he knee were pre-selected. If participants passed study criteria the Western Ontario McMaster University questionnaire (WOMAC), Item -36 Short Form Health Survey (SF-36), 6 Minute Walk Test (6MWT) and Timed Up And Go (TUG) were obtained from baseline and subjects were enrolled into a weight loss program, with no exercises included, for a 6 month period. Results: Repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) revealed that at 6 weeks of diet the mean body weight reduction of 9.5%, was followed by a significant reduction (p=.015) in WOMAC scores and (p=.038) SF-36 sub score of physical function. At 3 months of diet a significant reduction of 16.5% in body weight contributed to a significant decrease of 37% in knee pain and 56% of participants perceived not to have surgery. Conclusions: These results suggest that an initial loss of 16.5% of body weight for obese individuals was significant enough to reduce pain and postpone patient’s intent to have surgery in 56%.