Knee Research Australia

The Cycling for Knee Osteoarthritis Study

Researchers from Bond University and Knee Research Australia are conducting this study to help us understand the application of different forms of cycling exercise as a therapy for reducing symptoms and improving health indices in individuals with osteoarthritis of the knee. Known as the "Impact of High Intensity Interval Quadriceps Training on the functional capacity and pain of patients with knee osteoarthritis: a RCT", the results of this study will greatly benefit the management of patients with knee osteoarthritis. 

Who is eligible ?

In order to participate in this project, you will need to meet three criteria.  

1 Firstly, you have to have been clinically diagnosed with osteoarthritis of the knee by a doctor, have access to an exercise bicycle and be 40- 65 years of age

2 As this will be a home-based exercise program, it is also important that you do not have any other medical issues that could be negatively affected by the exercise program.  Thus, if you have any other medical conditions e.g. heart problems, you will need to gain the approval of your cardiologist or other relevant specialist.

3 The third criteria is that you do not plan to make an alterations to your osteoarthritis management e.g. injectable therapy during the course of this study.  

If you enrol in the study and subsequently make any such changes to your treatment during the course of the study, please notify the researchers at your earliest convenience. 

Who is doing this study?

Researchers from Bond University and Knee Research Australia are conducting this study that may help us understand the application of different forms of cycling exercise as a possible therapy for reducing symptoms and improving health indices in individuals with osteoarthritis of the knee. 

Why are we doing this study?

We are doing this study as osteoarthritis is a common musculoskeletal condition affecting joints such as the knee and hip in many middle aged and older adults.  Due to the pain of this condition, these individuals tend to become quite physically inactive, with this leading to a loss of leg muscle, strength and function and a variety of negative cardiac and metabolic health consequences as a result.  There is currently no known cure for osteoarthritis, although drugs or surgery are commonly used to reduce the severity of the symptoms. While continuous low-moderate intensity cycling is an often recommended exercise for knee osteoarthritis, virtually no research has compared high intensity interval training to continuous exercise in this population. It is unknown  if  high intensity interval training is more or less beneficial than continuous exercises in for osteoarthritis.

The expected benefits of the research

By participating in this study, we hope that you will experience a range of physical and health benefits.  Your participation will also contribute useful information about the potential use of different forms of cycling in reducing the severity of osteoarthritis symptoms and in improving some overall health indices.  Such data will hopefully lead to better outcomes for many people with osteoarthritis and also inform future studies that seek to compare different forms of exercise and use a wider number of outcome measures. These results will allow osteoarthritis patients like yourself to have improved daily function and health, less disability and a better quality of life. 

If you are interested in participation, you can volunteer in two ways. 

1 Click here to complete an online form, then download a Volunteer Pack, complete it and return it via fax or post.  

2 If you have already registered your interest in being a participant,  Download a Volunteer Pack here, please complete it and return it via fax or post. 

How can I participate?

If you are eligible to participate in this project (See right), you will be randomly allocated to one of two cycling programs.  Each of these programs will last for a period of 8 weeks, with you requested to perform 4 cycling sessions per week, with each session lasting 25 minutes in total. 
Before and at the conclusion of your eight week cycling program, we will ask you to complete a series of physical assessments at the Bond Institute of Health and Sport, Bond University that assess your lower limb muscle strength and function as well as undergo simple health indices measures such as height, weight and waist circumference.  Prior to each of these tests in these assessment sessions, you will be able to perform practice trials, which will act as a warm up and help you feel comfortable with the nature of the test.  You will also complete osteoarthritis questionnaires during these assessments.  Each of these sessions will last up to about 45 minutes.

Risks that you might experience

As we are following recognised exercise training and testing procedures, participation in this study is very safe. It is however possible you could suffer some adverse effects such as a cardiac event, joint pain or a muscle strain, but all precautions will be done to minimise this risk, including a health and medical pre-screen before you participate in the project.  Following the exercise and testing sessions you may get some delayed onset muscle or joint soreness, particularly if you have not been exercising those muscles recently. The soreness typically appears 12-24 hours after the exercise and should resolve itself within 36-72 hours.  Any such muscle soreness is not an injury and will diminish within a few training sessions and is a normal adaptation to new forms of exercise.