Walking Reduces Functional Limitation Risk in Knee Osteoarthritis

Daily walking reduces functional limitations in knee osteoarthritis patients and those at risk, according to a new study.

Researchers said the effect of walking at least 6,000 steps every day lasted two years in people with or at risk of knee osteoarthritis.

According to the Arthritis Foundation, more than 27 million people in the United States have osteoarthritis, with the knee being one of the most commonly affected areas. Women have higher risk of having osteoarthritis than men.

The current study was conducted on 1,788 people with an average age of 67. All the participants  were at risk of knee osteoarthritis. The study team examined if walking on its own protected against the development of functional limitation.

Researchers measured walking as steps per day. This was continued for seven days. They also examined the correlation between steps per day at baseline and developingfunctional limitation two years later. 

The findings revealed that each additional 1,000 steps per day were associated with a 16 and 18 percent decline in incident functional limitation, based on performance and self-report measures, respectively. 

The best thresholds to distinguish incident functional limitation were <6,000 steps per day for performance-based measures (sensitivity, 67.3 percent; specificity, 71.8 percent) and <5,900 steps per day for self-report measures (sensitivity, 58.7 percent; specificity, 68.9 percent), researchers wrote in the study.

The study was published in the Arthritis Care & Research.