Comparative Effectiveness of High-intensity Aerobic Exercise and Biomechanical Neuromuscular Exercise for Treatment of Knee Osteoarthritis: a Randomised Open Label Trial
The study aims to compare the effects of an education and High Intensity Interval Training program (eHIIT) with the widely used Neuromuscular Exercise and education program (NEMEX-e) on knee OA symptoms and risk factors for cardiovascular disease in people with knee OA and at least one risk factor for developement of cardiovascular disease. The main research questions the study aims to answer are: * Is the eHIIT program better than the NEMEX-e program for reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease? * Are the two programs equally good at providing improvement in knee symptoms?
• Age ≥18- years
• Diagnosis of tibiofemoral knee OA according to the American College of Rheumatology criteria
• Radiographically confirmed diagnosis of tibiofemoral OA based on radiographs not older than 6 months.
• Average knee pain level ≥ 4 (0=No pain and 10=Worst pain) over the past week (7 days)
• At least one of following risk factors for development of cardiovascular disease:
‣ Body mass index ≥ 30 kg/m2
⁃ Hypertension (or in treatment of): Systolic ≥ 135 and/or diastolic ≥ 85 mm Hg
⁃ Elevated HbA1c (or in treatment of): ≥ 130.7 mg/dL (44 mmol/mol)
⁃ Elevated Triglycerides (or in treatment of): ≥ 150 mg/dL (1.7 mmol/L)
⁃ Elevated Cholesterol (or in treatment of) (Low density lipides, LDL): LDL ≥ 54 mg/dL (3.0 mmol/L)