An observational study in Knee Osteoarthritis, sponsored by Imperial College London. Recruiting at 1 site in United Kingdom. Open to participants aged 18 Years and older. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-11-06.
Sponsored by Imperial College London · Observational
The goal of this observational, non-interventional cohort study is to identify tests or markers in blood or knee fluid, or any genetic risk factors that might contribute to worsening or improvement of knee osteoarthritis.
Males and females aged ≥18 with early-stage knee osteoarthritis, prior proven acute knee injury, or degenerative meniscal tear will be recruited at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust. Participants with prior proven acute knee injury must be aged ≤ 50. A single knee per participant will be followed throughout the study; this will be referred to as ''affected knee'', identified at baseline.
The study involves:
Samples collection:
Clinical data collection at baseline:
Participants will complete study Core Questionnaire Pack. These are questionnaires asking about participants' knee pain, function, and activity level.
Clinical data collection at yearly remote visits, through years 1-5:
Participants will complete study Follow-Up Questionnaire Pack, asking about participants' knee pain, function, and activity level - same as at baseline, but additionally participants will be asked about any knee surgeries on the affected knee, since the last study visit.
If at baseline visit X-ray imaging is available as a part of usual NHS care, then participants will only be invited to attend one X-ray appointment at Year 2 or Year 3 follow-up visit.
The study expect to recruit up to 200 participants with approximately 100 participants having early-stage knee osteoarthritis or degenerative meniscal tear and the remaining participants having prior proven acute knee injury.
Individuals will be able join the study for between 2-3 years. Follow up visits will last up to 5 years.
The study aims to identify people who are in the early-stage of knee osteoarthritis or at risk of knee osteoarthritis. The current course of osteoarthritis is quite unpredictable. Early on symptoms (and structural changes) can get worse or can get better, yet the exact etiology remains unclear. Current treatments are often reactive, meaning doctors wait until the disease is advanced before they do much. This study is designed to help better predict this process.
3,292 studies on the registry are indexed under Osteoarthritis, Knee; 623 are open to participants now.
This study's planned enrollment of 200 is above the median of 100 across 486 observational studies indexed under Osteoarthritis, Knee.
Browse Osteoarthritis, Knee studies →Imperial College London is the lead sponsor of 843 studies on the registry; 180 are open to participants now.
Of its 9 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 6 (67%) have results posted.
Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.
Participants will be recruited across Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust (ICHNT) through four primary pathways:
Elective Orthopaedic Lists:
Patients scheduled for relevant procedures on elective orthopaedic surgical lists.
Outpatient Procedural Lists:
Patients scheduled for joint drainage or intra-articular injections within musculoskeletal specialties, including rheumatology, sports and exercise medicine, and musculoskeletal radiology.
Individuals identified via research registries and mailing lists, including the Imperial Joint Health: Understanding, Monitoring and Prevention (JUMP) Registry, the Northwest London Health Research Register, and the Imperial Health Knowledge Bank (IHKB).
Go through the criteria one by one — yes, no or not sure — and take the list to your doctor or the study team. Kept in this browser only.
ALL participants must meet the following criteria:
Male or female, aged ≥18 years of age AND at least one of the following (a-d):
Probable early-stage symptomatic knee osteoarthritis without definite imaging changes, fulfilling NICE diagnostic criteria for osteoarthritis:
Exclusion Criteria:
Underlined terms in the criteria open these too. Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Judged by the study doctor to matter for your health or for the study. It is a doctor’s decision, so ask the study team if you are unsure whether something counts.
Malignancy means cancer. Criteria about another or earlier malignancy ask whether you have had a different cancer, usually within a set number of years.
Some are commonly allowed, such as treated skin cancers other than melanoma and early cancers removed completely — check the exceptions this study lists.
Anti-inflammatory medicines such as prednisone, prednisolone and dexamethasone — not the anabolic steroids used for muscle.
Studies differ in what they allow: check which steroid medicines, routes (tablets, injections, creams, inhalers, eye drops) and doses this study accepts.
A weakened immune system. It can come from an illness, such as HIV or some blood cancers, or from medicines that turn the immune system down, for example after an organ transplant or for an autoimmune disease; steroids at higher doses count.
Read whether the line is about a condition or about medicines, and which medicines and doses it means.
Clinically significant
Judged by the study doctor to matter for your health or for the study. It is a doctor’s decision, so ask the study team if you are unsure whether something counts.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Cancer (malignancy)
Malignancy means cancer. Criteria about another or earlier malignancy ask whether you have had a different cancer, usually within a set number of years.
Some are commonly allowed, such as treated skin cancers other than melanoma and early cancers removed completely — check the exceptions this study lists.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Corticosteroids (steroids)
Anti-inflammatory medicines such as prednisone, prednisolone and dexamethasone — not the anabolic steroids used for muscle.
Studies differ in what they allow: check which steroid medicines, routes (tablets, injections, creams, inhalers, eye drops) and doses this study accepts.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Immunosuppression
A weakened immune system. It can come from an illness, such as HIV or some blood cancers, or from medicines that turn the immune system down, for example after an organ transplant or for an autoimmune disease; steroids at higher doses count.
Read whether the line is about a condition or about medicines, and which medicines and doses it means.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Males and females aged ≥18.
Males and females must be aged ≤ 50.
Knee injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS)
Collected via study questionnaires completed by participants. Knee Injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS) is a knee-specific self-reported instrument, developed to assess participant's opinions about their knee and associated problems. The KOOS evaluates both short-term and long-term consequences of knee injury and osteoarthritis. It holds 42 items in 5 separately scored subscales: Pain, other Symptoms, Function in daily living , Function in Sport and Recreation, and knee-related Quality of Life. The KOOS is scored from 0 to 100, where higher scores indicate a better outcome, representing fewer symptoms and better knee-related quality of life.
Time frame: Baseline and 2 years
Tegner Activity Score (TAS)
Collected via study questionnaires completed by participants. Tegner Activity Score (TAS) is a rating system that measures participant's physical activity level on a scale from 0 to 10, where 0 indicates being on sick leave due to knee problems, and 10 represents participation in competitive sports at an elite or professional level (with higher scores indicating greater physical activity and sports participation).
Time frame: Baseline and minimum at 2 years/maximum 5 years
Post enrolment surgical intervention data (arthroplasty)
Collected via study questionnaires completed by participants to track the incidence and type of subsequent knee surgeries. This outcome measures the occurrence of an event (such as whether a surgical intervention took place, and if so what was the date of the intervention).
Time frame: Years 1-5
X-ray radiographs of the index knee
Evaluation of joint space narrowing in the tibio-femoral and patello-femoral joints, and the presence of osteophyte formation, using the Kellgren-Lawrence scale, a widely accepted method of assessing radiographic osteoarthritis. The Kellgren-Lawrence scale ranges from grade 0 to 4, where grade 0 indicates no osteoarthritis changes and grade 4 represents the most severe degree of joint degeneration.
Time frame: Baseline and 2 years
Plan to share: No
From the registry record's own update history. This site started tracking changes on Sep 25, 2026; for anything earlier, see the record history on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
Eligibility is decided by the study team. Share this record with your doctor or contact the team directly.
Contact study teamGet an email when the registry record changes — status, dates, results — or when someone posts here.
Sign in to followQuestions and observations about this study, from anyone following it. Not medical advice, and not a channel to the study team — their contact details are on the registry record.
Sign in to join the discussion. Reading takes no account; posting does. You choose a display name, and a pseudonym is the default.
Nothing here yet. If you are running this trial, taking part in it, or weighing whether to, this is the place to say so.