Physical Activity Prescription and Exercise-based Management Resources for Hip and Knee Osteoarthritis: A thematic analysis of the perspective of participants in the TEAM Study

Globally, most individuals are not meeting international physical activity guidelines. Individuals with osteoarthritis are even less likely to meet these guidelines than the general population, even though physical activity is a first line management strategy for osteoarthritis. I conducted five focus groups with 15 participants with mild to moderate knee and hip osteoarthritis who had participated in a 12-month randomized controlled trial to better understand the effectiveness of implementing physical activity prescription with novel digital health tools. Overall, 11 focus groups with 42 participants were conducted. Throughout the focus groups, participants shared their experiences with osteoarthritis, physical activity, study participation, study doctors, and the interventions. Employing a qualitative, thematic analysis, we analyzed transcripts and identified three major themes within the data: (1) Guidance, (2) Tracking, and (3) Interpersonal Accountability. Study findings can help us to understand the perceptions of and experiences with the use of digital health tools and physical activity counselling in clinical practice.