Grant: Doctoral Award - Frederick Banting and Charles Best Canada Graduate Scholarships

Knee osteoarthritis is a common health condition that causes pain, disability, and high healthcare costs. Best practice guidelines recommend that people with knee osteoarthritis engage in physical activity as a self-management strategy. Unfortunately, few people with knee osteoarthritis engage in regular physical activity or exercise. A common barrier to adherence is an increase in pain severity during physical activity. One treatment that may decrease pain during physical activity is a psychological technique called cognitive restructuring. Cognitive restructuring focuses on challenging unhelpful thoughts. Negative thoughts about pain have been linked to poor health outcomes for people with muscle, bone, and joint pain. This research will involve 200 adults with knee osteoarthritis. Participants will be randomly assigned to a treatment or education program. The researchers will measure participant levels of physical activity for one week prior to the treatment or education program. The treatment in this study will involve four 60-minute cognitive restructuring sessions delivered over four weeks by a trained healthcare professional. The education program will include four 60-minute sessions on knee anatomy and osteoarthritis. Through this work, the researchers will: 1) determine the extent that levels of pain during physical activity predict daily physical activity levels, 2) determine whether decreasing negative thoughts about pain reduces pain during physical activity, and 3) determine the extent that changes in pain during physical activity can be explained by reduced negative thoughts about pain. If the treatment shows a positive effect, the researchers could develop and then evaluate a new treatment that combines decreasing negative thoughts about pain and structured physical activity. The ultimate goal of this research is to develop evidence-based treatments to improve adherence to physical activity and exercise among adults with knee osteoarthritis.