Overview
- A one-year randomized trial in The Lancet Rheumatology assigned 34 adults with mild-to-moderate knee osteoarthritis to adjust their foot angle inward or outward by 5–10° during at least 20 minutes of daily walking while 34 controls maintained their natural gait.
- MRI assessments at trial end showed that participants who altered their foot angle experienced significantly slower loss of medial knee cartilage compared with the control group.
- Those who modified their walking reported an average pain reduction of 2.5 points on a 10-point scale, an effect the authors equate with relief from over-the-counter pain medications.
- Study leaders characterize the gait-adjustment approach as a simple, noninvasive, and relatively low-cost early-stage therapy with potential to delay knee replacement surgery.
- Researchers emphasize that confirmation through larger, more diverse, and longer-duration trials along with development of AI-assisted personalization tools is required before clinical adoption.