Heart rate variability to guide home exercise for knee osteoarthritis
Compares exercise guided by heart rate variability with standard home exercise in knee osteoarthritis.
Key facts
- Who runs it
- The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
- Where
- Kowloon, Hong KongSee the site
- Trial code
- Registry title
- Heart Rate Variability Guided Physical Activity and Exercise Prescription in Individuals With Knee Osteoarthritis
- Status
- Not yet recruiting
- People taking part
- 240 people, planned
- Starts
- 1 Jan 2027
- Expected to end
- 31 Dec 2029
- Type of study
- Interventional, 2 groupsOne group gets an existing treatment, for comparison.
- Treatments tested
- HRV-guided home exercise prescription
- Traditional Home Exercise
- Record updated
- 12 February 2026
Who can take part
AI summary
From the trial's eligibility criteria. Machine-read from the registry text on this page, so it can be wrong. The registry text below and the trial team decide who can take part.
The trial is looking for adults with knee osteoarthritis (wear-and-tear arthritis of the knee) that causes pain. It compares a home exercise program guided by heart rate variability with a standard home exercise program.
- Age
- 45 to 70 years
- Sex
- All sexes
- Disease stage
- Mild to moderate knee osteoarthritis with symptoms (Kellgren Lawrence grade ≤ grade III). Average knee pain of at least 3 on a 0-10 scale in the past week.
- Earlier treatment
- Cannot join after a hip or knee replacement, or after an exercise programme in the past six months. Cannot join after a knee joint injection in the past three months.
- Biomarker or test result
- Body mass index (BMI) ≤ 40 kg/m2.
Main reasons for not taking part
- Neurological disorders, serious memory or thinking problems, or not able to walk
- Implanted electrical devices
- Inflammatory arthritis such as gout
- Knee injury or knee keyhole surgery in the past six months, or surgery recent or planned within three months
- Current blood-thinning (anticoagulant) treatment, or health problems that make exercise unsafe
The registry criteria, word for word
Show all 17 criteriaShow less
Who can take part
- Participants will include adults aged 45 years and older with symptomatic KOA, diagnosed according to the American College of Rheumatology Clinical Criteria for the Classification and Reporting of KOA
- Mild to moderate KOA (Kellgren Lawrence grade ≤ grade III),
- a body mass index (BMI) ≤ 40 kg/m2, and
- an average knee pain intensity ≥ 3 on a 0-10 numerical rating scale during the past week
Who cannot take part
- prior hip or knee arthroplasty
- current anticoagulant therapy
- recent or planned surgery within three months; and
- presence of neurological disorders
- significant cognitive impairment
- history of trauma or surgical arthroscopy of either knee within the past six months
- nonambulatory status
- implanted electrical devices
- systemic inflammatory arthritis (e.g., gout)
- participation in a similar study within the past six months
- engagement in an exercise programme within the past six months
- receipt of knee intra-articular injection within the past three months
- any medical comorbidities precluding safe participation in exercise
Check if you might fit
Answer for yourself. This is not a decision: only the study team can say whether you can take part.
- Are you between 45 and 70 years old?
Where in Hong Kong
- Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, The Hong Kong Polytechnic UniversityKowloon, Hong KongContact: Shahnawaz ANWER, PhDNot yet recruiting
About the trial
What the trial wants to find out
The aim of this trial is to conduct a 12-week randomised controlled trial comparing an HRV-guided home exercise program with traditional home exercise program for individuals with knee osteoarthritis (KOA), followed by 24-week assessment. The trial employs a validated HRV sensor and the HRV4Training app to record daily HRV measurements, enabling personalized exercise intensity adjustments. Participants with high HRV are prescribed high-intensity exercises, while those with low HRV undertake low-intensity exercises. In contrast, the traditional exercise group follows a standardised program, progressing from low to high intensity over the 12-week period.
Read full original descriptionShow less
The primary objective of this trial is to evaluate the effect of HRV-guided exercise on pain and functional disability in patients with KOA using validated outcome measures assessed at baseline, 12 weeks (post-intervention), and 24 weeks. Longitudinal semi-structured qualitative interviews at weeks 12 and 24 will explore participants' experiences and perceived barriers to exercise adherence. A mediation analysis will elucidate the physiological mechanisms underlying the efficacy of HRV-guided exercise. Secondary objectives include comparing HRV-guided and traditional home exercise programme in terms of exercise adherence, quality of life, sleep quality, self-efficacy, patient satisfaction, physical performance, balance, muscle strength, and lower limb biomechanics. Exploratory aims involve evaluating long-term effects (up to 24 weeks), examining associations between baseline HRV profiles and key outcomes, and determining the cost-effectiveness of HRV-guided exercise relative to traditional programme. The trial employs a robust methodological design, applying mixed-effects models and an intention-to-treat approach for data analysis.
The 2 groups in the trial
- HRV guided home exerciseTreatment being tested
Treatment: HRV-guided home exercise prescription
- Traditional home exerciseExisting treatment, for comparison
Questions to ask the study team
- How often do I need to come in, and for how long each time?
- Are travel costs paid?
- Can I keep my own doctor?
- What happens if I want to stop?
Contact the study team: see the registry record → Contacts and Locations
Print a page for my doctorData and sources
- Registry record
- Listed on ClinicalTrials.gov.
- Official title
- Heart Rate Variability Guided Optimization of Physical Activity and Exercise Prescription to Enhance Rehabilitation Outcomes in Individuals With Knee Osteoarthritis (HOPE-OA Trial)
- Plain-language title
- Heart rate variability to guide home exercise for knee osteoarthritisGenerated from the registry record. The registry title is the official one.
- AI summary
- From the trial's eligibility criteria. Read by machine on 14 November 2026.
- Fit questions
- Built from NCT07391449, who can take part
- Record updated
- 12 February 2026