Adding Group-Based Pain Neuroscience Education to a Community Exercise Program for Older Women With Knee Osteoarthritis

Overview

This pilot trial aimed to estimate preliminary clinical effects and to assess the feasibility of adding group-based pain neuroscience education (PNE) to exercise in women aged ≥60 years with medically diagnosed knee osteoarthritis and current knee pain. Participants were randomized to either 10 weeks of community-based exercise plus PNE or exercise alone. All participants attended weekly group exercise sessions, and those in the intervention group also participated in five in-person group-based PNE sessions lasting 30 minutes each. Physical fitness tests were administered, and participants completed questionnaires assessing disability, pain intensity, and pain neurophysiology knowledge.

Knee osteoarthritis (OA) is a highly prevalent and disabling condition in older adults, with the knee being the most commonly affected joint. In Chile, OA represents a substantial clinical and public health burden, particularly among women aged 60 years and older, who experience high rates of pain, disability, and loss of functional independence. Disability and pain are hallmark symptoms of knee OA and are strongly associated with reduced physical function and poorer quality of life in older women. Current clinical guidelines recommend education, self-management, and exercise as first-line treatments. Exercise therapy can improve pain and physical function in people with knee OA, but average effects are modest and individual responses vary. Pain in knee OA is increasingly understood within a biopsychosocial framework, suggesting that maladaptive pain beliefs contribute to persistent symptoms. Pain Neuroscience Education (PNE) may complement exercise by improving pain-related knowledge and psychological outcomes, although evidence-particularly for group-based delivery and disability outcomes in older women-remains limited. This study was implemented in the context of a training program called "Camina 60+KineUC", a community-based program jointly delivered by the UC Older Adults Program and the Department of Physical Therapy from Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. The program provides weekly group sessions focused on strength, aerobic, balance, and flexibility exercises for adults aged 60 years and older and is designed to promote healthy aging. The study was designed to assess feasibility and estimate preliminary between-group effect sizes rather than to make definitive efficacy conclusions.