Planning and development of a long-term digital self-management tool for osteoarthritis: the Intelligent Knee Osteoarthritis Lifestyle App

Abstract

There is strong evidence for beneficial effects of physical activity for people with knee osteoarthritis (KOA). While supervised exercise programmes are effective, they are resource intensive, typically of limited duration and hard to implement at scale. More accessible options should be developed to enable individuals to adopt and maintain appropriate physically active lifestyles. Smartphone apps can monitor activity and symptoms, providing feedback to support self-management. We aimed to co-design a KOA self-management app, with physiotherapists and people experiencing KOA, to support long term physical activity.