[A comparison of the efficacy of conservative therapies for obese patients with osteoarthritis of the knee].

Two hundred and five obese women with osteoarthritis of the knee (knee OA) were treated with one of the following interventions for six weeks: A nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) alone (Control, n = 16), NSAID combined with walking (n = 16), NSAID with non-weight bearing exercises (n = 16), NSAID with intra-articular hyaluronan injections (NH, n = 16), NSAID with supplement foods, glucosamine and condroitin (NS, n = 15), traditional shoe inserts, wedged insoles (NT, n = 20), NSAID with a novel insole with an elastic subtalar strapping (NN, n = 25), an energy restriction diet plus the NSAID (ND, n = 32), a diet combined with the NSAID and exercises (NDE, n = 25), and the diet combined with the NSAID and walking (NDW, n = 24). The Lequesne index was employed to obtain remission percentages, which were then compared between the ten groups. Compared with all but the NDW group, the NDE group showed a significant improvement. The NDW group also demonstrated a significant improvement, compared with all but the NDE and NN groups. The NN group showed a significant improvement compared with the control, NS and ND groups. However, for patients in the NDE and NDW groups, it was difficult to maintain body composition, even with these intervention methods. In this regard, the use of the insole with the elastic subtalar strapping was a simple and convenient method to maintain the body composition effect of the intervention method for knee OA patients.