Substudy to track physical activity changes during initial 8-week diet intervention for knee osteoarthritis patients

Knee osteoarthritis (KOA) is a debilitating joint disease, often exacerbated by obesity and lack of physical activity. Current management typically involves pain relief and physical therapy, but sustained weight loss and increased activity are crucial for long-term joint health and symptom reduction. While GLP-1 agonists like liraglutide show promise for weight management in this population, understanding how initial lifestyle interventions impact physical activity before pharmacotherapy is vital to optimize comprehensive treatment strategies. This substudy aims to fill that gap by focusing on the pre-drug intervention phase.

This is a substudy nested within a larger randomized trial (NCT02905864) investigating liraglutide 3 mg for body weight and pain in overweight/obese patients with knee osteoarthritis. The parent trial begins with an 8-week diet intervention phase, including a low-calorie diet and dietetic counseling. Following this, patients are randomized to receive either liraglutide 3 mg or placebo as an add-on to continued dietetic guidance. This specific substudy focuses on assessing any changes in physical activity that occur during this initial 8-week weight loss intervention phase, prior to the liraglutide randomization.