Skip to main content

Table 1 Observational and randomized studies on the association of using knee valgus brace and questionnaires (WOMAC, VAS, SF-36, KOOS). ↑ means that a positive, significant change was described in the manuscript between before and after values; – means that the outcomes improved but not significantly; ↓ means that a significant negative change was described in the publications. F: means female, M: means male

From: Effect of using knee valgus brace on pain and activity level over different time intervals among patients with medial knee OA: systematic review

First author, publication year (reference no)

Study design

Number of participants

Intervention duration

Type of the knee valgus brace

Used-questionnaire

The direction of effect, as indicated in the manuscript

Jones et al.,2013 [6]

crossover randomized

28 (12f, 16 m)

2 weeks

Donjoy-OA Adjuster, DJO, Vista, USA)

WOMAC

VAS pain

Haladik et al. 2014 [1]

prospective cohort

10 (1f, 9 m)

2 weeks

OA Adjuster

WOMAC

Fu et al., 2015 [21]

non-randomized prospective cohort

10 (4f, 6 m)

4 weeks

Unloader valgus knee braces (Ossurhf, Reykjavik, Iceland)

WOMAC

VAS pain

Polloet al., 2002 [22]

prospective cohort

11 (1f, 10 m)

2 weeks

Generation II Un-loader ADJ brace, Generation II US

VAS pain

Schmalz et al., 2010 [23]

prospective cohort

16 (8f, 8 m)

4 weeks

Genu Arthro knee brace

VAS pain

Ramsey et al., 2007 [7]

prospective cohort

16 (not available)

2 weeks

GenerationII Unloader Select, Generation II USA, Inc., Bothell, Washington

KOOS

Hsieh et al.,2020 [24]

comparative study

20 (13f, 7 m)

1 month and 3 months

Thruster Legacy OA brace

WOMAC

VAS pain

Briggs et al. 2012 [25]

prospective cohort

39 (16f,23 m)

3 week, 6 weeks, and 6 months

unloader brace

WOMAC

SF36

van Egmondet al., 2017 [26]

randomized controlled trial

100.In Bledsoe Thrustergroup 50 (20f, 30 m).InSofTec group 50 (22f, 28 m)

2 weeks and 12 weeks

the Bledsoe Thrusterbrace (B&Co Inc. N.V., Sint-Antelinks, Belgium) andtheSofTec OA Brace (Bauerfeind AG, Zeulenroda-Triebes, Germany)

VAS pain

WOMAC

SF-36

Barne et al., 2002 [27]

prospective cohort

30 (12f, 18 m)

8 weeks

Counterforce brace (breg, calif)

SF-36

Thoumie et al., 2018 [28]

randomized controlled trial

32 (24f, 8 m)

6 weeks

The REBELRELIEVER unloading knee brace

VAS pain (100 mm)

Gaasbeek et al.,2007 [16]

prospective cohort

15 (3f, 12 m)

6 weeks

The SofTec OA valgus brace

WOMAC

VAS pain

Laroche et al., 2014 [29]

prospective cohort

20 (16f, 5 m)

5 weeks

PROTEOR (France)/ ODRA® brace

WOMAC

Draganich et al.,2006 [18]

Crossover

10 (not available)

5 weeks

Adjustable OA Defiance; dj Orthopedics)

WOMAC

Ornetti et al., 2015 [30]

prospective cohort

20 (16f, 4 m)

6 weeks and 52 weeks

OdrA brace

KOOS

VAS pain

Arazpour et al., 2013 [31]

randomized prospective cohort

12 (8f, 4 m)

6 weeks

Custom-made knee valgus brace

VAS pain

RobertLachaine et al., 2020 [17]

randomized crossover

24 (10f, 14 m)

3 months

valgus three-point bending system brace (V3Pbrace), an unloader brace with valgus and external rotation functions (VERbrace) and a stabilizing brace

WOMAC

KOOS

Hurley et al., 2012 [32]

prospective cohort

24 (4f, 20 m)

6 months

Breg Fusion valgus unloader braces (custom-made)

WOMAC

SF36

Iqbal, 2014 [33]

randomized controlled trial

60 (24f, 36 m)

6 months

Custom-made off-loading knee braces

VAS pain (mm)

VAS activity (%)

Richards et al., 2005 [34]

crossover study

12 (5f, 7 m)

6 months

GII Orthotics-Europe, Eindhoven, The Netherlands

VAS pain

van Raaij, et al. 2010 [35]

randomized controlled trial

46 (35f, 11 m)

6 months

the MOS Genu1 knee brace

WOMAC Function

VAS pain

Ostrander et al., 2016 [36]

randomized controlled trial

16 (8f,8 m)

24 weeks

a medial-unloader brace (Fusion OA; Breg, Inc)

KOOS

VAS pain

Hjartarson and Toksvig-Larsen, 2018 [12]

randomized controlled trial

52 out 74 finished one year study

One year

Unloader One® Knee Brace (Ossur,Iceland)

KOOS

Sattari&Ashraf,2011 [37]

randomized controlled trial

20 (63%f, 37%m)

9 months

The generation II of knee orthosis

VAS pain