Table 2.
Summary of study interventions.
| Author and year | Interventions | Delivery | Provider | Setting | Supervised or unsupervised | Detailed description of exercise and sham intervention | Frequency | Personalisation | Adherence assessment | Adherence actual | Blinding reported |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bennell 2014 [20] | Exercise | Individual | PT | Clinic and home | Mixed | Strengthening of hip abductors and quadriceps, stretching and hip range of motion, and functional balance and gait drills. 4 to 6 exercises | 4 × per week | Semi-standardised and progressed | Patient logbook | 9.6/10∗ | Yes – 66 % of placebo group remained blinded |
| Sham US | Individual | PT | Clinic and home | Mixed | Inactive ultrasound and inert gel lightly applied to the anterior and posterior hip region. Time not specified. | 3 × week | NA | Patient logbook | 9.4/10∗ | ||
| Bennell 2005 [19] | Exercise | Individual | PT | Home | Mixed | Exercises to retrain the quadriceps, hip, and back muscles, and balance exercise. | 3 × daily | Semi-standardised and progressed | Patient logbook | 95 % appointments and 72 % home exercise | Yes – James blinding index >0.5 at week 13 |
| Sham US | Individual | PT | Home | Mixed | Sham ultrasound and light application of non-therapeutic gel | 1 × weekly for 1 month and then 1 × fortnight 1 month | NA | NA | NI | ||
| Cheing 2004 [16] and Cheing 2002 [24] | Exercise | Individual | NI | Clinic | Supervised | Isometric strengthening using dyanomometer for 30 mins. This included a warm up, isometric quadriceps and hamstring exercises in a variety of knee positions. | 5 × per week | NI | NA | NA | NI |
| Placebo TENS | Individual | NI | Clinic | Supervised | Placebo TENS using identical machine | 5 × per week | NA | NA | NA | NI | |
| TENS + exercise | Individual | NI | Clinic | Supervised | Conventional TENS for 60 min followed by 30 min of exercise involving isometric strengthening using dyanomometer for 30 mins | 5 × per week | As above and below | NA | NA | NI | |
| TENS | Individual | NI | Clinic | Supervised | Conventional TENS for 60 min continuous trains of 140 μs square pulses at 80 Hz | 5 × per week | Adjusted relative to sensory threshold | NA | NA | NI | |
| Deyle 2000 [21] | Exercise | Individual | PT | Clinic and home | Supervised | Active knee range-of-motion exercises, hip and knee muscle strengthening exercises, lower limb muscle stretching, and stationary cycling. | 2 × per week | Increased as patient tolerated | NA | NA | NI |
| Placebo US | Individual | PT | Clinic | Supervised | Subtherapeutic ultrasound for 10 min at an intensity of 0.1 W/cm2 and 10 % pulsed mode | 2 × per week | NA | NA | NA | NI | |
| Foroughi 2011 [29] | Exercise | Individual | NI | Clinic | Supervised | Progressive resistance training exercises at 80 % of peak muscle strength using Keiser machines including unilateral knee extension, standing hip abduction and adduction; and bilateral knee flexion, leg press, and plantar-flexion. | 3 × per week | Increased resistance as tolerated | NA | NA | NI |
| Sham exercise | Individual | NI | Clinic | Supervised | Sham exercises on the same equipment as the intervention group except without hip adduction, and performed knee extension bilaterally. Minimal resistance was set on the machine. | 3 × per week | No progression | NA | NA | NI | |
| Krauss 2014 [30] | Exercise | Group and individual | PT | Clinic and Home | Mixed | THüKo exercise therapy - exercises to strengthen the muscles and improve proprioception, balance and flexibility. | 1 × per week group and 2 × per week individual home exercise | NI | Study and patient log | 93 % group and 95 % home exercise | NI |
| Placebo US, | Individual | PT | Clinic | US for 15 min at subtherapeutic level | 1 × per week | NA | NA | NA | NI | ||
| Merritt 2012 [31] | Exercise | Individual | PT (hand therapist) | Home | Unsupervised | Specific exercises for thumb web space, thumb stability exercises and isolated thumb blocking, if indicated | 3 × per day | NI | Patient log | 87 % adherence | NI |
| Sham topical cream | Individual | PT (hand therapist) | Home | Unsupervised | Sham topical cream applied. Time not specified. | 2 × per day | NA | Patient log | 87 % adherence | NI | |
| Rogers 2012 [32] | Exercise (KBA) | Individual | Therapist | Clinic and home | Mixed (first 3 sessions supervised) | KBA utilized walking agility exercises plus single-leg static and dynamic balancing (wedding march, backwards wedding march, side stepping, semi-tandem walk, tandem walk, cross-over walk, modified grapevine, toe walking, heel walking, static balance, dynamic balance) | 3 × per week | Increased time and repetions as able | Patient log | 95.3 % | NI |
| Exercise (RT) | Individual | Therapist | Clinic and home | Mixed (first 3 sessions supervised) | Resistance Training (RT) involved Thera-Band non-latex elastic resistance bands (Seated: Ankle extension, ankle flexion, knee extension, knee flexion, hip abduction, hip adduction, hip internal rotation, hip external rotation, leg press (hip and knee extension) Standing: Hip hyper-extension) | 3 × per week | Increased resistance by changing bands | Patient log | 96.4 % | NI | |
| Exercise (KBA + RT) | Individual | Therapist | Clinic and home | Mixed (first 3 sessions supervised) | KBA and RT as detailed above. | 3 × per week | As below | Patient log | 98.6 % | NI | |
| Sham topical cream | Individual | Therapist | Clinic and home | Unsupervised | Daily inert topical cream to affected area. Time not specified. | 1 × per day | NA | Patient log | 97 % | NI | |
| Rogers 2009 [17] | Exercise | Individual | Therapist | Home | Unsupervised | Exercise intervention which included nine exercises involving range of motion, gripping and pinching, including use of a non-latex polymer ball for around 10–15 min per session. | 1 × per day | Repetitions increased sequentially as tolerated | NI | NI | NI |
| Sham topical cream | Individual | Therapist | Home | Unsupervised | Inert hand cream applied without massage. Time not specified. | 1 × per day | NA | NI | NI | NI | |
| Stoffer-Marx 2018 [33] | Exercise | Individual | HCPs | Home | Unsupervised | Exercise program consisting of making small fist, lateral pinch, O-sign, spread fingers and therapy putty exercises. | 1 × per day | Repetitions increased sequentially as tolerated | Assessor inspection of putty | 5 % judged not to have used putty at all | NI |
| Placebo massage ball and routine care | Individual | HCPs | Home | Unsupervised | Massage ball rolled gently on palmar and dorsal sides of hand. Time not specified. | 1 × per day | NA | NI | NI | NI | |
| Vassão 2019 [34] | Exercise | Individual | PT | Clinic | Supervised | Exercise program which included warming up on treadmill, 6 strength exercises (SLR-seated leg raise), gluteal bridge (hip lift), hip abductors chair, hip adductors chair, knee extensors chair, knee flexors chair), and stretching of major muscle groups | 2 × per week | Load progressed based on 2 weekly assessment | NA | NA | NI |
| Placebo PBM | Individual | PT | Clinic | Supervised | Turned off photobiomodulation to medial and lateral region of affected knee for 40 s | 2 × per week | NA | NA | NA | NI | |
| exercise + placebo PBM | Individual | PT | Clinic | Supervised | Combination of exercise and placebo PBM as described above | 2 × per week | Load progressed based on 2 weekly assessment | NA | NA | NI | |
| Villafane 2013 [18] | Exercise | Individual | Therapist | Clinic | Supervised | Hand exercises including range-of-motion, grip and pinch strength exercises, including use of a non-latex polymer ball. | 3 × per week | Progressed based on resistance and ability to increase repetitions | NA | NA | NI |
| Sham US | Individual | Therapist | Clinic | Supervised | inactive doses of pulsed ultrasound with an intensity of 0 W/cm and gentle application of an inert gel for 10 min to the hypothenar area of symptomatic hand | 3 × per week | NA | NA | NA | NI |
Abbreviations: US – ultrasound, NA – not applicable, NI – not indicated, TENS – transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation, PBM – photobiomodulation.
•- denotes aself rated dherence measured on an 11 point numeric rating scale.