Inclusion and exclusion criteria
Only RCTs involving subjects with knee osteoarthritis were
included. Trials were required to compare exercise therapy
with a non-exercise control group. The exercise mode was
scrutinised and the trial was only included if the regimen
employed involved predominantly aerobic walking or home
based quadriceps strengthening exercise. Exercise was
considered to be ‘‘home based’’ where it was undertaken
exclusively in the subject’s home environment or, where
exercise was partly supervised, the regimen was intended to
be continued at home unsupervised. The outcome measures
of interest were pain or self reported disability or both.
RCTs were excluded if publication was in abstract form
only or if the exercise regimen was perioperative. Only
English language publications were considered. If an RCT
included subjects with osteoarthritis of joints other than the
knee and provided only aggregated data, the authors were
contacted to request disaggregated data. The study was
excluded if disaggregated data could not be provided.