Physical Exercise and Weight Loss for Hip and Knee Osteoarthritis in Very Old Patients: A Systematic Review of the Literature

BACKGROUND : Rheumatologic and geriatric scholarly organisations recommendations for the management of hip and knee osteoarthritis, which emphasise the usefulness of non-pharmacological therapies, are not scaled according to patient’s age and physical condition. We conducted a systematic review of clinical trials on exercise and weight loss in hip and knee osteoarthritis in very old patients. METHODS : Electronic search in MEDLINE, EMBASE, PASCAL database, systematic search of the Cochrane Reviews, manual search in guidelines, meta-analyses and identified relevant articles. RESULTS : We identified 83 trials, with only 2 on patients aged ≥ 75 years; we therefore lowered the mean age threshold to 70 years and found 15 trials, mainly performed in knee osteoarthritis and outpatients. PHYSICAL EXERCISE (8 TRIALS): was effective on pain and function (4 controlled trials), with a persistent effect only in case of self-rehabilitation. AQUATIC EXERCISE (5 TRIALS): was as effective as land-based exercise. WEIGHT LOSS (2 TRIALS): only patients under diet + exercise had significant improvement on symptoms. CONCLUSION : Our systematic review confirms that international recommendations on exercise for knee osteoarthritis also apply to subjects aged 70-80 years. Long-term effectiveness requires a maintenance strategy. Specific trials on very old patients with various comorbidities are mandatory, given that these subjects are more exposed to drug-related iatrogenesis.