4. Discussion
cushioned shoes, OA, knee pain, pain
In this double-blinded study, we showed that cushioned sport shoes, which were designed for individuals with knee OA, reduced the amount of pain in the affected knee and increased the functionality, as measured using the WOMAC subcategories. These findings were not significant in the control group. However, velocity and cadence were increased in both the research group, who used the cushioned shoes, and the control group, who used similar un-cushioned shoes. The gait spatiotemporal parameters and their symmetry were unaffected during the long-term (3 months) intervention. While cushioned shoes are sometimes recommended for individuals with knee OA, this is the first piece of evidence of their efficacy in alleviating pain and increasing functionality.Studies have shown great variability in the progressiveness of knee pain in individuals with OA. The variability is affected by different factors, e.g., knee characteristics, sex (females have worse prognoses) and clinical factors, as well as psychological factors [The presence of knee pain is a risk factor for reduced physical function. Middle-aged individuals with OA are more likely to develop difficulties in mobility and daily functioning as they become older [Although all of the members of the study population increased their gait velocity and cadence, there were no statistically significant differences in the gait pattern or gait symmetry. We expected changes in the gait pattern, in accordance with the previous results exploring the biomechanics of walking with cushioned shoes. In a previous study, the research showed that there are biomechanical differences in older females walking with maximally and minimally cushioned shoes and conventional shoes [The study limitations include a small sample size, although this might not have affected the power of our results, as shown by the large effect sizes presented in 