According to studies, four out of five adults experience back pain at some point in their lives. In osteoarthritis, pain originates in the affected joints. The interventions focused on elevating adherence to therapeutic exercise increased adherence greater than a contextually equivalent control among older adults suffering chronic low back pain and/or hip/knee osteoarthritis have been discussed upon in this study.

This is a systematic review and meta-analysis where 5 databases (MEDLINE (PubMed), CINAHL, SportDISCUS (EBSCO), Embase (Ovid) and Cochrane Library) were searched until 1 August 2016.

The randomised controlled trials segregated the effects of interventions focused at improving adherence to therapeutic exercise among adults ≥45 years of age with chronic low back pain and/or hip/knee osteoarthritis were considered.

Out of 3899 studies identified, 9 studies comprising 1045 participants were appropriate for the study. The techniques aimed at ameliorating motivation or using behavioural graded exercise, reported significantly better exercise adherence (d=0.26-1.23) were estimated in 4 studies. On the contrary, behavioral counselling, action coping strategies and/or audio/video exercise cues did not improve adherence worth noting. A small to medium significant pooled effect favoring booster sessions (standardised mean difference (SMD) 0.39, 95% CI 0.05 to 0.72, z=2.26, p=0.02, I2=35%) raised due to meta-analysis using a random effects model with the two studies estimating booster sessions with a physiotherapist for people with osteoarthritis.

It was thus culminated that this meta-analysis provided moderate-quality evidence for booster sessions with a physiotherapist assisted people with hip/knee osteoarthritis to better adhere to therapeutic exercise. The use of motivational techniques in people with chronic low back pain and behavioural graded exercise in people with osteoarthritis for upgrading adherence to exercise was supported by the individual high-quality trials.