Effectiveness of exercise therapy added to general practitioner care in patients with hip osteoarthritis: a pragmatic randomized controlled trial.

OBJECTIVE To assess the effectiveness of exercise therapy added to general practitioner (GP) care compared with GP care alone, in patients with hip osteoarthritis (OA) during 12 months follow-up. METHODS We performed a multi-center parallel pragmatic randomized controlled trial in 120 general practices in the Netherlands. 203 patients, aged ≥45 years, with a new episode of hip complaints, complying with the ACR criteria for hip OA were randomized to the intervention group (n = 101; GP care with additional exercise therapy) or the control group (n = 102; GP care only). GP care was given by patient's own GP. The intervention group received, in addition, a maximum of 12 exercise therapy sessions in the first 3 months and hereafter three booster sessions. Blinding was not possible. Primary outcomes were hip pain and hip-related function measured with the HOOS questionnaire (score 0-100). RESULTS The overall estimates on hip pain and function during the 12-month follow-up showed no between-group difference (intention-to-treat). At 3-months follow-up there was a statistically significant between-group difference for HOOS pain -3.7 (95% CI: -7.3; -0.2), effect size -0.23 and HOOS function -5.3 (95% CI: -8.9; -1.6), effect size -0.31. No adverse events were reported. CONCLUSIONS No differences were found during 12-months follow-up on pain and function. At 3-months follow-up, pain and function scores differed in favor of patients allocated to the additional exercise therapy compared with GP care alone. TRIAL REGISTRATION The Netherlands Trial Registry NTR1462.