Weight loss and exercise walking reduce pain and improve physical functioning in overweight postmenopausal women with knee osteoarthritis

We conducted an uncontrolled pilot study to determine the effects of a weig ht loss and walking program on knee pain and physical function in overweigh t and obese (body mass index; BMI [kg/m(2)] 25-29.9 and BMI greater than or equal to 30, respectively) postmenopausal women with knee osteoarthritis ( OA). Forty-eight such women completed self-report (Western Ontario and McMa ster University Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC)) and performance-based measure s of physical function ("up & go" test, 6-min walk) and enrolled in a 6-mon th intervention that included weekly nutrition classes and an exercise-walk ing program. The intervention produced an average weight loss of 5.6 +/-4.0 kg in the 30 women who completed the program. There also were significant improvements in the 6-min walk and on VO2max. Improvements in the timed up & go test and on the WOMAC pain and function scores, however, were restricted only to wo men who were classified as obese at baseline. These findings suggest that a 6-month weight loss and walking program improves measures of physical func tioning and pain in overweight and obese postmenopausal women with knee OA. Among obese women, functional improvement correlated with weight loss, enc ouraging continued emphasis on weight loss for managing knee OA.