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Does walking for exercise have a beneficial long-term effect in patients with knee osteoarthritis (OA)? In this study, researchers used data from the Osteoarthritis Initiative — a U.S. community-based, prospective cohort study — to address this question in 1200 participants (mean age, 63) with radiographic evidence of knee OA.
About three quarters of participants reported walking for exercise somewhat regularly since age 50. During 4 years of follow-up, walkers were less likely than nonwalkers to report new frequent knee pain; however, among participants who already had frequent knee pain, walking was not associated with improved symptoms during follow-up. Walking also was associated with slightly less likelihood of OA progression on serial …