3 per 1000 for men and 23.8 per 1000 for women, while the prevalence of hip osteoarthritis was 10.2 per 1000 for men and 18.9 per 1000 for women (Poos and Gommer 2009). The disease has a great impact on the patient’s physical function and quality of life. Exercise plays an important role in the management of this chronic disabling disease

(Zhang et al 2008). An overview of systematic reviews reported that there is high-quality evidence that exercise reduces pain and improves physical function in patients with osteoarthritis of the knee (Jamtvedt et al 2008). Recently, evidence for a positive effect of selleck kinase inhibitor exercise therapy was provided in a systematic review (Fransen and McConnell 2008). The review showed beneficial effects in terms of both pain (standardised difference in the mean change between the buy OSI-906 treatment and the control group 0.40, 95% CI 0.30 to 0.50) and physical function (0.37, 95% CI 0.25 to 0.49) in patients with osteoarthritis of the knee Exercise is a broad concept that may include strength training, range of motion exercises, and aerobic activity. Education and home exercises are also often part of an exercise intervention. Fransen and McConnell (2008) analysed the effects of these various treatment methods, studying subgroup effects for simple quadriceps strengthening, lower limb muscle strengthening,

strengthening together with an aerobic component, walking program only, and other treatment content. However, they were unable to demonstrate any significant difference in effect size between these subgroups for either pain or physical function.

For the management of hip and knee osteoarthritis, referral to a physiotherapist is recommended for symptomatic patients (Zhang et al 2007). In the Osteoarthritis Research Society International (OARSI) evidence-based expert consensus guidelines (Zhang et al 2008), the recommendation to refer to a physiotherapist is based on the positive results of studies that analysed the effects Tolmetin of physical therapy (Fransen et al 2001) and manual physical therapy (Deyle et al 2005, Deyle et al 2000). In these studies manual mobilisations were part of the treatment. Physiotherapists and manual therapists frequently combine exercise therapy with passive manual mobilisation to treat impairments related to joint function. Passive manual mobilisation may include soft-tissue mobilisation and oscillations with the aim of improving joint mobility and joint stability and of relieving pain. Restricted joint mobility, especially in terms of knee flexion, appears to be an important determinant of disability in patients with osteoarthritis (Steultjens et al 2000, Odding et al 1996). It is not known whether passive manual mobilisations provide additional benefits in terms of reduced pain or increased physical function when compared to strength training or compared to exercise therapy alone. We were unaware of any studies that directly compared these intervention types.