Impact of at-home circuit training on cardiovascular risk, functional capacity and quality of life in older adults with knee osteoarthritis and diabesity: a randomized controlled trial

Background The present study was designed to investigate the effectiveness of a 12-week home-based circuit training (HBCT) protocol on numerous indices associated with knee osteoarthritis (KOA) and cardiometabolic health among older adult patients with KOA and the metabolic overlap between obesity and type 2 diabetes, also known as diabesity. Methods This randomized controlled trial was registered at the Clinical Trials Registry (Date: March 7, 2024; ID: NCT06309654). Seventy overweight or obese participants (56% male) with a mean age of 62.2 ± 6.1 years were randomly allocated to the exercise group (n = 35, HBCT) or the non-exercising control group (n = 35, CON). HBCT performed a progressive protocol, lasting 20–60 min, three times per week. Each exercise session comprised seven exercises, with 15–30 repetitions, a 1-min passive rest between exercises, and 2–4 rounds per session. The assessment of outcomes included knee injury and osteoarthritis outcome score, cardiometabolic risk factors, cardiorespiratory fitness, and renal function at pre- and post-training. Results The results demonstrate that HBCT led to a notable enhancement in the majority of cardiometabolic health indicators (e.g., anthropometrics, blood pressure, and glucose metabolism), KOA parameters related to quality of life and functionality, and cardiorespiratory fitness when compared with CON (p < 0.05). No significant changes were observed in total bilirubin, sodium, urea, and resting heart rate between HBCT and CON. Conclusion The present results suggest that an injury-free HBCT program may improve numerous cardiometabolic health- and KOA-related indicators in older adult patients with KOA and diabesity.