IMPACT OF OSTEOARTHRITIS ON WALKING
Osteoarthritis can make even simple, everyday activities difficult. Think of walking, grocery shopping, working, exercising, or playing with (grand)children. The progression of symptoms caused by osteoarthritis varies from person to person. Some people gradually deteriorate, others experience fluctuating symptoms, and some decline rapidly.
WALKING IN DAILY LIFE
In the TopTreat study, we want to better understand why osteoarthritis develops differently in each person. We are especially curious why some people experience a faster decline in their daily mobility than others. We also want to know if it is possible to predict this difference in advance. Therefore, we measure how people move in various ways. One of these methods is tracking walking in daily life. This can be outdoors, such as during a walk, but also indoors, for example, when someone walks to the coffee machine.
As people experience more problems due to osteoarthritis, they tend to walk less and slower. This can be seen in the number of steps they take per minute. To measure this accurately, we ask participants in the TopTreat study with knee or hip osteoarthritis to wear a digital watch (smartwatch). This watch counts the number of steps per minute throughout the day, as shown in the image below. This way, we can see if someone’s condition worsens over time, and how quickly this happens. We also hope to use this data to understand why some people decline significantly while others decline little or not at all during the years we follow them.
PERSONALIZED TREATMENT
People with osteoarthritis are not always satisfied with the treatment they receive. What works well for one person may not help another. To choose the right treatment, it is important to closely monitor how movement changes on an individual basis. Within the TopTreat study, we are investigating whether a watch is suitable for this purpose. In the future, we hope to use this to start treatments at the right moment, and only for people who truly need them. This way, we take a step towards personalized treatment of osteoarthritis.
What is extracted from the smartwatch data?
We receive this question regularly. That’s why we organised an online session on 20 February 2026, in which we explained more about the study and how the smartwatch data is used. For everyone who could not attend or who would like to watch the presentation again, we are happy to share a recording of the session. The recording is in Dutch.
