The Kaia Hip and Knee Pain Intervention for Self-management of the Pain in Patients With Osteoarthritis.

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a painful, degenerative disease of the affected joints. According to surveys by the World Health Organization (WHO) knee and hip joint OA is one of the diseases that make up the largest proportion of all disability diseases. On the individual patient level, there is a pronounced limitation of the quality of life, which can also lead to the development of secondary diseases. There are numerous methods available for the treatment of OA, the spectrum of which ranges from conservative measures such as physical therapy or medical procedures up to surgical procedures, especially joint replacement. In recent years, the number of prostheses implanted in knee and hip joints has increased significantly. International guidelines such as those of the American College of Rheumatologists recommend conservative treatment of OA of the knee and hip joint with physical therapy. Multidisciplinary approaches include aerobic and anaerobic exercise training, in particular with the aim of weight loss in overweight participants, participant education for self-management of the disease and the consideration of psychosocial factors. This comprehensive, structured, conservative program for the treatment of OA achieves significantly better results than the standard treatment. However, comparable programs, which offer comprehensive management of OA are not widely available. Digital therapies represent a novel approach to help patients manage themselves and their diseases in a home setting and even show better results than current standard therapies. An analysis of a smartphone intervention providing a multidisciplinary approach for self-management of lower back pain, the Kaia Back Pain Relief app, shows promising results in 180 users with a significant and clinically relevant reduction of pain levels. Based on these promising results, this study will evaluate the effectiveness of the Kaia Knee and Hip pain app intervention in comparison to usual medical care in reducing pain and disease-related symptoms in participants with OA over 3 months.