Can pain sensitisation in patients with knee osteoarthritis predict response to physiotherapy? This is what a team of researchers from Ireland and Sydney hope to find out in a  study of 140 patients with moderate to severe symptomatic knee osteoarthritis.

They hypothesise that the presence of pain sensitisation will predict a non-response to physiotherapy treatment compared to patients without evidence of pain sensitisation.

The results will be exploratory and generate rather than confirm hypotheses about pain sensitisation and physiotherapy for knee OA, the researchers wrote in BMJ Open. 

“Nonetheless, it may point to a relationship worthy of further investigation in order to better understand pain mechanisms in knee OA, and optimise physiotherapy outcomes in the future,” they said. 

For information on study methodology click here.