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Exercise does little for arthritis

(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-07-15 16:59

There is "insufficient evidence" to show that exercise decreases pain, improves function or enhances quality of life in people who suffer from arthritis of the hip joint, researchers from New Zealand report in the journal Arthritis Research and Therapy.

Recent guidelines on exercise for individuals with arthritis have been largely based on studies conducted in people with arthritis of the knee, not the hip, Dr Peter J. McNair and colleagues at the Health and Rehabilitation Research Center, Auckland University of Technology, note in the report. "These guidelines seem rigorous even for those who are able bodied," they say.

Because exercise in patients with hip arthritis "has received much less attention in the literature", the researchers conducted a systematic literature review to identify intervention studies of exercise therapy in this population.