Effectiveness of Exercise Plus Pain Neuroscience Education on Brain Function in Knee Osteoarthritis

Brain Function, Clinical and Psychosocial Outcomes After Neuromuscular Exercise Plus Pain Neuroscience Education Intervention in Patients With Chronic Pain Due to Knee Osteoarthritis. A Randomized Controlled Trial Protocol

A three-arm randomized controlled trial will be conducted. Fifty-nine participants with KOA will be recruited in a 1:1:1 ratio. Assessor, and statistician will be blinded to group allocation. One experimental group (n=19) will receive NME plus PNE, the other experimental group (n=19) will receive isolated NME and the control group (n=19) will continue with usual care. The PNE will be adapted to the context of the participants. Outcome measures will be brain activity, pressure pain threshold, pain intensity, disability, fear-avoidance beliefs, self-efficacy, and pain catastrophizing. Outcome measures will be evaluated pre-intervention, immediately post-intervention, and four-month post-intervention.

The investigators hypothesize that there will be significant differences in favor of the NME plus PNE intervention group.

Inclusion Criteria:

• women and men at least 45 years old radiologically diagnosed with unilateral or bilateral KOA (Kellgren-Lawrence 1-3 grading scale)
• pain duration greater than three months

Exclusion Criteria:

• Patients who have received physical therapy or other conservative therapy in the previous three months and those who have a history of major knee trauma and surgery in the last six months
• cardiac pathology
• structural use of psychoactive medications, such as antipsychotics, antidepressants, antiepileptics, and anxiolytics, during the past year
• neurological diseases
• other musculoskeletal clinical conditions that generate pain