Response to Letter to Editor: “Comment on the TARGET trial by Bennell et al: Was the interpretation of similar improvement based on equivalence analysis?”

We thank Dr Kardes for their comment on our randomized controlled trial comparing efficacy of non-weight bearing quadriceps exercise and weight bearing functional exercise in people with medial knee osteoarthritis and co-morbid obesity [1]. Dr Kardes highlights that we performed a superiority trial and not an equivalence trial. They correctly point out that the language we used in the conclusion of ‘similar improvement between groups’ is not aligned with our superiority trial design. Instead more appropriate wording would have been ‘although improvements were observed with both exercise programs, there was no evidence that one was superior to the other’ - a subtle but important point.

Source: Osteoarthritis and Cartilage - May 11, 2020 Category: Rheumatology Authors: Kim L. Bennell, Rachel K. Nelligan, Alexander J. Kimp, Sarah Schwartz, Jessica Kasza, Tim V. Wrigley, Ben Metcalf, Paul W. Hodges, Rana S. Hinman Tags: Letter to the Editor Source Type: research