Osteoarthritis Prevention Program Aims to Stop Lifetime of Pain

November 29, 2021 (Vancouver) – Arthritis Research Canada’s scientists are developing a unique program to prevent osteoarthritis after a sport-related knee injury.

Stop OsteoARthritis, or SOAR, is a virtually delivered program that consists of education, a home-based exercise and physical activity program with tracking and one-on-one physiotherapy counselling.

This program is unique because participants co-develop goals with physiotherapists that address priorities they have for their individual physical activity level, sport, and needs. It is also delivered after a patient is discharged from care for their initial knee injury.

Osteoarthritis: It’s Serious

Around 500,000 youth in Canada injure their knees while playing sports each year. Of those people, 50 percent will develop osteoarthritis within 10 years.

“Osteoarthritis is a serious disease that is not a natural result of aging,” said Dr. Jackie Whittaker, a research scientist at Arthritis Research Canada. “It can even cut a person’s life short because it often leads to inactivity, which increases the risk of complications like heart disease.”

Currently, the treatment of youth knee injuries tends to focus on returning to playing sports, with little effort spent on osteoarthritis prevention and education following an injury.

After a joint injury, people rarely seek care during the 10-15 year period before osteoarthritis becomes a problem.

“SOAR gives people the tools to manage their knee health over that period of time to reduce the risk of osteoarthritis,” Whittaker said.

Want to learn more about this research or take the screening questionnaire to see if you are eligible to participate? Click here.