What should a toolkit to aid the delivery of therapeutic exercise for hip and knee osteoarthritis look like? Qualitative analysis of an international survey of 318 researchers, clinicians, and consumers by the OARSI Rehabilitation Discussion Group

Background: We aimed to identify important components of, and practical resources relevant for inclusion in, a toolkit to aid exercise delivery for people with hip/knee osteoarthritis.Method: An online international multi-disciplinary survey was conducted across 43 countries (139 clinicians, 44 people with hip/knee osteoarthritis and 135 osteoarthritis researchers). Participants were presented with the seeding statement Practical resources to aid the implementation of exercise for people with hip/knee osteoarthritis should...' and asked to provide up to 10 open text responses. Responses underwent refinement and qualitative content analysis to create domains and categories.Results: Refinement of 551 open text responses yielded 72 unique statements relevant for analysis. Statements were organised into nine broad domains, suggesting that resources to aid exercise delivery should: (1) be easily accessible; (2) be of high quality; (3) be developed by, and for, stakeholders; (4) include different ways of delivering information; (5) include different types of resources to support exercise and non-exercise components of self-management; (6) include resources on recommended exercises and how to perform/progress them; (7) include tools to support motivation and track progress; (8) include resources to enable tailoring of the programme to the individual and; (9) facilitate access to professional and peer support.Conclusion: Our findings identified important components of, and practical resources to include within, a toolkit to aid delivery of exercise for people with hip/ knee osteoarthritis. These findings have implications for exercise providers and lay the foundation for the development of a toolkit to help ensure exercise provision aligns with current international recommendations.

Automated summary

This study aimed to identify important components and practical resources for a toolkit to aid exercise delivery for people with hip/knee osteoarthritis. An online survey involving clinicians, patients, and researchers yielded nine broad domains of resources, including accessibility, quality, stakeholder involvement, different modes of information delivery, resources for exercise and non-exercise self-management, recommended exercises and progression, motivation and progress tracking tools, individual tailoring, and access to professional and peer support. These findings lay the foundation for developing a toolkit aligned with international recommendations.