Table 2.

Description of the outcome measures

Outcome measure	Description of the test	Scoring	Minimum clinically important difference (MCID)
Visual Analogue Scale	The scale is positioned in front of the patient who is asked to evaluate pain intensity in the prior week.41	The scale ranges from 0 (no pain) to 10 cm (maximum pain intensity).	A pain reduction of 1.75 cm is recommended in OA research.49
Western Ontario & McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis questionnaire	This self-report questionnaire evaluates the difficulties experienced by individuals with lower limb OA in the prior 72 hours. It contains 24 questions in three domains: pain, stiffness and physical function.	Each question is scored from 0 to 4, and the maximum score possible is 96. The higher the scores, the worse the status of a patient.	An improvement of 12% from baseline is recommended in OA research.52
Short-Form-Health Survey 36 (SF-36)	The short form questionnaire is intended to measure the patient’s quality of life with 36 items referring to the past 4 weeks. It presents a multiple-choice scale that evaluates eight domains of life: physical functioning, role limitations due to physical problems, general health perceptions, vitality, social functioning, role limitations due to emotional problems, general mental health and health transition.	The sum of the total value varies from 0 to 100, with higher indexes indicating a better quality of life. Each of the eight summed scores was linearly transformed into a scale from 0 (negative health) to 100 (positive health) to provide a score for each subscale. Each subscale was used independently.	A difference of 10 points is recommended as an MCID in OA research.53
Stair climb test	The participant is positioned in front of the stairs. At the therapist’s signal, he/she has to climb the indicated steps (we used the 12-step SCT) and descend promptly, being able to use the handrail as a security instrument. We used 20 cm steps height, a handrail stair in an lighted environment, free of traffic, or external distractions. Moreover, a pretest was conducted to identify the need for safety measures.	The final score is calculated based on the time the participant took to perform the test and compared it to the literature normative values of the test.	A reduction of 5.5 s in the test is the recommended MCID in OA research44
40 m (4×10 m) Fast paced walk test	Administered at a distance of 10 m (marked by tapes), a cone is placed 2 m before the start and 2 m after the end of each marking. The participant is instructed to walk as quickly but as safely as possible the first 10 m (from the start mark), to turn around in the cone and walk back the 10 m again, successively until completing the distance of 40 m.	Speed (m/s)	An increase of 0.2–0.3 m per second in the test is the recommended MCID in OA research44
30 s Chair to stand test	A chair with no arms is placed against a wall to prevent oscillations. Patients sit in the middle of the chair, with their back straight and feet resting on the floor in line with their shoulders. The participant is asked to rise from sitting to standing as many times as possible in 30 s.	Total number of repetitions within 30 s	An increase of 2 to 3 repetitions is recommended in OA research.54

OA, osteoarthritis.