RECRUITING Not applicable ClinicalTrials.gov

Remote Tai Chi for Knee Osteoarthritis

Sponsor: Tufts Medical Center • ClinicalTrials.gov ID: NCT06384898

Registry updated: 2026-10-08

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Description

The goal of this pragmatic randomized trial is to evaluate the effectiveness of remote Tai Chi to treat knee pain in adults with knee osteoarthritis. The main questions the trial aims to answer are: * Compared to routine care, will patients with Knee OA receiving remote Tai Chi exhibit greater improvement in knee-related pain (WOMAC pain score, primary outcome), pain interference (PROMIS-Pain Interference, secondary outcome), and health-related quality of life at 3 months? * Does remote tai chi decreases healthcare utilization and analgesic use over the one-year study period? Researchers will compare remote Tai Chi added to routine care to routine care alone to see if remote tai chi works to treat knee osteoarthritis pain. Participants will participate in remotely delivered web-based tai chi sessions, twice a week for 12 weeks, or will continue to receive routine care. Participants will be followed for 12 months after randomization.

Interventions

Remote Tai Chi (Other)
Tai Chi mind-body exercise is a complex, multi-component nonpharmacological intervention integrating physical, psychological, emotional, and behavioral elements.

Eligibility criteria

Inclusion Criteria: * Adults aged 50 years or older with clinician diagnosis of knee osteoarthritis * Active patient within a participating healthcare system * A score of 40 (visual analog version) or greater on at least 1 item of the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC) pain subscale (range of 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating greater pain). * Ability to provide informed consent * Access to a telehealth-capable device, such as a computer, tablet, or smartphone * Ability to complete study procedures remotely in English * If randomized to the Tai Chi group, willing to comply with the Tai Chi program (twice-a-week remote sessions for 12 weeks) * If randomized to the Routine Care group, willing to abstain from Tai Chi programs until completion of the study Exclusion Criteria: * Current participation in Tai Chi practice * Serious medical conditions (e.g., dementia, significant neurological deficits or neurodegenerative disorder, active cancer treatment, psychosis, sensory deficits) limiting the participant's ability to participate in the Tai Chi safely, as determined by the principal investigators * Prior total knee replacement or planned total knee replacement during the study period * Inability to ambulate independently or rise from a chair without assistance * Reports severe depression defined by a Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II) score of 29 or more. * Reports suicidal ideations defined by a score on BDI-II item of 2 or 3 ('I would like to kill myself' or 'I would kill myself if I had the chance'). * Concurrent participation in another interventional trial within 30 days before enrollment

Conditions

Knee Osteoarthritis

Locations

Tufts Medical Center — Boston, Massachusetts, United States

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Official Source

Data sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov, a service of the U.S. National Institutes of Health.

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