RECRUITING Not applicable ClinicalTrials.gov

An Implementation Science Approach to Evaluating Self-Administered Acupressure for Knee Osteoarthritis in Older-Aged Adults in the Community

Sponsor: The Hong Kong Polytechnic University • ClinicalTrials.gov ID: NCT07329023

Registry updated: 2026-09-21

Recruiting for Similar Conditions?

Sponsors are looking for patients like you. See if you qualify for compensated research studies.

Description

This study aims to evaluate the implementation and effectiveness of a self-administered acupressure (SAA) program for knee osteoarthritis (OA) among older adults in Hong Kong community centers. Using a pragmatic cluster randomized controlled trial (RCT) and mixed-methods approach, the research will assess the reach, adoption, implementation, maintenance, and effectiveness of the SAA program in real-world settings, with the goal of informing scalable interventions for knee OA management.

Interventions

Experimental Group: Self-Administered Acupressure (SAA) (Other)
Participants in this group will receive two acupressure training sessions (2 h each, 1 -week apart). The SAA treatment protocol was developed based on TCM meridian theory described in previous studies and modified by the PA and CO-A who is an experienced acupuncturist. The acupoints are indicated for knee pain and are commonly used tested for feasibility in RCT study. Participants will be asked to perform the acupressure at home in the morning (within 1 h after waking up) and at night (within 1 h after dinner) every day for 24 weeks. Participants will receive a follow-up phone call from the instructor during the first week to remind them to practice and answer their queries. During the intervention and follow-up period, the participants can communicate with the elderly staff/ our research ambassador to ask questions regarding acupressure.
Control Group: General Health Education (Other)
The participants of DEC centers in this group will be provided with the general health education booklets despite the same follow-up procedure. The booklets contains general health education information e.g. physical health, sleep health, for the participants' self-reading. The content is based on our previous studies for lifestyle intervention and health information from the government website. They will be told to read the booklet and follow the suggestions in the booklet. They will have the same program after outcome evaluation at 24 weeks.

Eligibility criteria

Inclusion Criteria: 1. ethnic Chinese; 2. aged 60 years or above; 3. able to read Chinese and comprehend Mandarin or Cantonese; 4. fulfilling any 3 of the following criteria. i. morning stiffness 30 min; ii. crepitus on active joint motion; iii. bone tenderness; iv. bone enlargement; or v. no palpable joint warmth (this classification on those with age \>50 years yielded 84% sensitivity, and 89% specificity for OA knee diagnosis (25)); 5. having knee pain for at least 3 months (26); 6. knee pain 23 on a Likert pain scale from 1-10; 7. having a smartphone (or a family member living together having a smartphone) that is compatible with WhatsApp (based on our previous studies, almost every eligible subject is used to using WhatsApp for social communication); and 8. willing to provide informed consent. Exclusion Criteria: 1. medical diagnoses or conditions that preclude individuals from active participation (e.g., bleeding disorders, alcohol, or drug abuse); 2. knee pain related to other conditions (cancer, fracture, rheumatoid arthritis, and rheumatism) as screened according to the red flags for further investigation or referral in the NICE 2014 Guidelines for Osteoarthritis of the knee (27); 3. score \< 22 in Hong Kong Montreal Cognitive Assessment (HK-MoCA) indicating cognitive impairment that may prevent the understanding of training instructions (28); 4. body mass index over 30, the obese Il criteria for Asians (29) (obese subjects will find great difficulty in performing acupressure on acupoints because physical pressure reaching the muscle is required); and 5. ever had knee-replacement surgery Further investigation or referral, either at the screening or during the study, will be made whenever necessary.

Conditions

Knee Osteoarthritis (Knee OA)

Locations

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University — Kowloon, Hong Kong

Partner with Nurenyx

Showcase your study to thousands of motivated patients matching your criteria.

Learn More

Official Source

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

View Official Record

Accelerate Your Clinical Trial Recruitment