Taking the first step: Investigating the effect of novel strategies on the number of people with knee osteoarthritis accessing exercise management.

Referral to physiotherapy/exercise healthcare worker by GP or self. Outcome will be obtained via a self-reported survey accessed via a private link sent to the participant via text or email. The survey is hosted on REDCap.

Every clinical guideline recommends that individuals with knee osteoarthritis (OA) undertake planned, structured, and repetitive physical exercise. Such programs are ideally provided by physiotherapists or exercise physiologists. However, referral for planned exercise programs for people with OA by their GP is low. This prevents many people with knee OA from having the opportunity to participate in a treatment that will improve their knee pain. This study will investigate the effectiveness of two strategies designed to improve access to exercise programs provided by physiotherapists or exercise physiologists. Strategy 1 is including an educational message that exercise is important in the report sent to the GP after the person with knee OA has undergone x-ray. Strategy 2 supplements the GP educational message with an infographic to the person with knee OA informing them about the benefits of exercise for pain and function. We will work with radiology clinics in NSW to compare the strategies with current practice (no information to people with OA or GPs). We expect both strategies will be more effective than current practice in increasing the number of people being referred and attending appointments with physiotherapists or exercise physiologists.