How longer visits and more personal conversations can help people with knee osteoarthritis

The Effects of Visit Characteristics on Patient-Clinician Interactions and Health Outcomes in Knee Osteoarthritis

NIH-funded research University of California at Davis · NIH-11122211

This project looks at whether longer clinic visits and more personal conversations with clinicians help adults with knee osteoarthritis have less pain and better function.

Quick facts

Grant typeR01 grant
Study typeNIH-funded research
Funding institutionUniversity of California at Davis NIH-funded
Lab location1 site (Davis, United States)
Project IDNIH-11122211 on NIH RePORTER

What this research studies

If you take part, you'll be scheduled for clinic visits that vary in length and in the amount of personal conversation the clinician uses to understand your life and symptoms. The researchers will compare groups who get usual visits, longer visits, more holistic conversational content, or both, and they will track your pain, mobility, and experience of the visit over time. They will use questionnaires, physical measures, and recordings of the interactions to understand what specific visit elements change outcomes. The goal is to identify simple visit changes clinicians can adopt to help people with knee OA without relying on risky medications.

Who could benefit from this research

Good fit: Adults with chronic knee osteoarthritis pain who can attend clinic visits and complete questionnaires would be ideal candidates.

Not a fit: People with acute knee injuries, inflammatory forms of arthritis (such as rheumatoid arthritis), or those under 21 are unlikely to benefit from these specific visit-based approaches.

Why it matters

Potential benefit: If successful, this work could provide low-risk, easy-to-adopt visit practices that reduce pain and improve daily function for people with knee osteoarthritis.

How similar studies have performed: Smaller prior studies suggest that visit length and more personalized communication can influence pain outcomes, but larger controlled comparisons like this are still needed.

Where this research is happening

Davis, United States

Researchers

About this research

  1. This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
  2. Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
  3. For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page below.
Last reviewed 2026-06-13 by the Find a Trial editorial team. Information on this page is for educational purposes and is not medical advice. Always consult qualified healthcare professionals about clinical trial participation.