Clinical Sciences/Health Conditions
Chloe Charron, MD
PGY-3 Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
CHU of Quebec - Laval University
Québec, Quebec, Canada
Nesrine Boubaidja, n/a
Medical student
Laval University
Québec, Quebec, Canada
Emmanuelle Raynard, MS
Information Specialist
Laval University
Quebec, Quebec, Canada
Ariane Lavoie-Hudon, MS
PhD student
Laval University
Québec, Quebec, Canada
Étienne L. Belzile, MD
Orthopeadic Surgeon / Chief, Division of Orthopeadic Surgery / Associate Professor
CHU of Quebec - Laval University
Quebec, Quebec, Canada
Hip Osteoarthritis (OA) is characterised by progressive cartilage degeneration causing joint pain and stiffness, limitation in social participation and decrease in quality of life.
Recent guidelines recommend individualised exercise programs and oral NSAIDs as conservative treatments. Although there is extensive knowledge on lower limb biomechanical alterations in hip OA, little is known about the use of orthoses.
We conducted a scoping review to explore the breath of the literature on lower limb orthosis used as a conservative treatment for primary hip OA in adults.
Design:
The review follows the JBI methodology and is reported in compliance with the PRISMA-ScR guidelines. A systematic literature search was performed on September 2nd 2025 in Medline, Embase, Cochrane, CINAHL, and Web of Science to identify original studies (in English or French) investigating a lower limb orthosis (hip, knee or foot) in cohorts of adult patients with unilateral primary hip OA. The research question was also inserted in Elicit (AI research assistant) to ensure all relevant studies were found. Covidence was used for management.
Results:
After two selection rounds, six articles testing four different types of orthoses remained for data extraction. Four articles focused on hip bracing interventions and two on plantar orthoses. 50% of studies included a longitudinal follow-up (1 to 6 weeks) while the others focused on immediate effects of the equipment. Tasks analysed included level walking, 90-degree turns and sit-to-stand motions. Biomechanical (joint kinetics, kinematics and proprioception) and clinical (pain, functional level, kinesiophobia) outcomes were most frequently reported. All studies conducted pre-post intervention analysis, while half also compared OA patients to controls.
Conclusion:
Literature about lower limb orthoses as a conservative treatment for hip OA remains very scarce. Study designs and outcomes vary according to the intervention tested.
