Introduction
obesity, LMS, OA, ’, pain, TKR, Knee osteoarthritis
DISABLING DISEASE, OBESITY, KNEE OSTEOARTHRITIS
Knee osteoarthritis (OA) is one of the most common chronic health conditions (prevalence 3.8%) and one of the most disabling diseases among adults.Exercise therapy is recommended as a first-step treatment for knee OA, next to pain medication and diet, with TKR to be considered only after these conservative treatments fail.We recently conducted a randomized controlled trial (RCT) in knee OA to assess the clinical and cost-effectiveness of a stratified approach of exercise therapy – distinguishing a ‘high muscle strength subgroup’ (HMS), ‘low muscle strength subgroup’ (LMS) and an ‘obesity subgroup’ (OS) - compared to usual exercise therapy. As reported elsewhere,Therefore, the aim of the current study is to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of stratified exercise therapy compared to usual exercise therapy, from the societal and healthcare perspectives.