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Stop OsteoARthritis (SOAR 1.0)
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Scientific Study Title:

Feasibility of the SOAR (Stop OsteoARthritis) Program

Start Date: 

  • October 2020

End Date:

  • March 2021

Research Category

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Why do this research?

Reason For Research

In Canada, about 700,000 youth hurt their knee every year while playing sports. Half of them go on to develop knee osteoarthritis (OA) by the age of 40. The risk for knee osteoarthritis is higher for those who develop knee muscle weakness, or become physically inactive, and gain weight after their knee injury. Despite knowing this, the treatment of youth knee injuries tends to focus on returning to playing sports, with little effort spent on osteoarthritis prevention and education. With a team of patients and healthcare providers, we developed a new digital (online) education and exercise-based program to help boost recovery from a knee injury and reduce the risk for osteoarthritis. The SOAR or – Stop OsteoARthritis program aims to improve user’s ability to self-manage their knee health through education, personalized exercise, activity tracking, and weekly action planning. This research is a key step forward in changing how we treat knee injuries in Canada.

Methodology

Execution of Research

The first step to testing the SOAR program was to find out if people found it acceptable, if we could deliver it as planned, and whether it had the potential to change knee health. So, in this study (SOAR 1.0) we trialed a 4-week version of the SOAR program with 30 people. In addition to measuring things like strength, balance, physical activity, and knee symptoms, we also interviewed 16 of the 30 people to explore their experience with the SOAR Program.

The SOAR program included:

    1. A 2-hour Knee Camp where participants attended a virtual group education session, one-on-one knee exam and one-on-one exercise therapy and physical activity goal setting guided by a physiotherapist.
    2. Weekly personalized exercise and activity program built from participants goals to do at home alongside activity tracking (Fitbit) and an exercise log.
    3. Weekly one-on-one Physiotherapy (PT)-guided counselling sessions to modify and add exercise-therapy and physical activity goals, and problem solve around any barriers participants might be experiencing.

Who is involved?

Involvement

Please take our screening questionnaire to see if you are eligible to participate in our current study.

Findings & Next Steps

Of the 30 people who participated in the SOAR Program, 60% were women and the average age was 30. The average time since participants had a knee injury was 5.6 years. The SOAR program was deemed feasible for individuals who previously experienced knee-trauma. Everyone who joined stayed until the end, and there were no adverse or negative effects. Participants completed about 90% of required program activities, and said they followed the program about 80% of the time. Both women and men reported significant increases in self-reported physical activity. The results of this study also revealed that gender is an important consideration for SOAR implementation and will help us to inform the next steps of this research.

The interviews revealed that participants felt that the SOAR Program:
• filled a healthcare gap by providing valuable knowledge about knee health and promoting self-efficacy for independent exercise.
• empowered participants to take control of their knee health, giving them a sense of self responsibility in managing their recovery.
• social support from weekly physiotherapy sessions and interactions with others in the program encouraged exercise participation and provided accountability.
• could use some refinements to meet the needs of future participants.

What Were the Next Steps?

This study informed the next phase of the SOAR research program, where we tested if the SOAR program can improve health outcomes reported to be important to participants at increased risk of knee osteoarthritis after a sport-related knee injury, also known as SOAR 2.0. You can read about the results here.

Related Publications

  • Truong LK, Mosewich AD, Miciak M, Pajkic A, Silvester-Lee T, Li LC, Whittaker JL. “I feel I’m leading the charge.” Experiences of a virtual physiotherapist-guided knee health program for persons at-risk of osteoarthritis after a sport-related knee injury. Osteoarthr Cartil Open. 2022 Dec 27;5(1):100333. doi: 10.1016/j.ocarto.2022.100333. PMID: 36685259; PMCID: PMC9850175.
  • Whittaker JL, Truong LK, Silvester-Lee T, Losciale JM, Miciak M, Pajkic A, Le CY, Hoens AM, Mosewich AD, Hunt MA, Li LC, Roos EM. Feasibility of the SOAR (Stop OsteoARthritis) program. Osteoarthr Cartil Open. 2022 Jan 28;4(1):100239. doi: 10.1016/j.ocarto.2022.100239. PMID: 36474472; PMCID: PMC9718224.

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