Review: Moderate weight loss improves functional disability but does not reduce pain in obese patients with knee osteoarthritis

摘要

Obesity is a clearly established risk factor for knee osteoarthritis. Thenmeta-analysis by Christensen and colleagues, which examined the relationnbetween weight loss and knee symptoms, was limited by the smallnnumber of studies that met criteria for methodological quality. Thenincluded studies were heterogeneous with respect to the interventionnand amount of weight lost; the largest amount of differential weightnloss was 6.7 kg, and in 2 of 5 studies, the control and interventionngroups did not differ for weight loss. Despite these limitations, thenmeta-analysis was able to show that weight loss > 5% improves kneendisability, and the effect size suggests that this result is clinically meaningful.