Table 4

Summary of the effect size^4-151 (ES) and quality assessment score (QS) for 23 treatment modalities in knee osteoarthritis (OA)

Intervention	Total OA papers	Positive to control	ES No of trials	ES (median)	ES (range)	Quality scores (median)	QS (range)	Category of evidence	Strength of recommendation
Analgesic	10	5				15.5	7–24	1B	A
Opioid	10	6				19	11–27	1B	B
SYSADOA^4-152	59	26	6	1.21	0.28–1.50	16	1–26	1B	A
Patient education	19	8	4	0.23	0.05–0.35	13	7–17	1A	A
Exercise	31	15	4	0.78	−0.58–1.05	13	7–20	1B	A
IA^4-152 hyaluronic acid	34	21	4	0.49	0.04–0.9	20	7–26	1B	B
IA steroids	10	5	1	1.27		16	4–22	1B	A
Insoles	3	2				10	3–11	2A	B
Lavage	6	3	1	0.84		13.5	11–18	1B	B
NSAID^4-152	365	214	4	0.49	0.16–1.19	16	2–27	1A	A
^4-150Nutrients	19	15	1	0.65		17	4–27	2A	C
Patellar taping	1	1				15		1B	B
Psychotropic drugs	2	1				19	16–22	1B	B
Sex hormones	1					15		2B	C
Spa	4	3	1	0.47		14.5	12–17	1B	C
Osteotomy	17					11	7–15	3	C
Joint replacement	51	1				12	4–23	3	C
Arthroscopic debridement	8	1				10	2–17	1B	C
Telephone contact	5	3	1	1.09		18	16–18	1B	B
Topical/periarticular	18	11	3	0.56	−0.05–0.91	19	9–26	1B	A
Weight reduction	1					13		1B	B

↵4-150 Nutrients include trial dietary supplements, vitamins, and minerals.
↵4-151 Effect size recorded for intervention against placebo.
↵4-152 SYSADOA = symptomatic slow acting drugs for osteoarthritis; NSAIDs = non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs; IA = intra-articular.