News release

From: American College of Physicians

Study finds no clear advantage between supportive or flexible shoes for hip osteoarthritis pain

A randomized trial of 120 adults with hip osteoarthritis (OA) found that supportive, stability‑focused shoes were no better than flat, flexible shoes at reducing hip pain during walking over six months, challenging assumptions that more structured footwear might lessen hip joint discomfort. The study is published in Annals of Internal Medicine.

Researchers from The University of Melbourne set out to learn whether stable, supportive shoes could more effectively reduce hip pain than flat, flexible shoes in people with hip osteoarthritis. 120 adults with hip osteoarthritis recruited from the greater Melbourne, Australia area were randomly assigned to one of the two shoe types and asked to wear their shoes for at least six hours per day for six months. The primary outcome was change in self-reported hip pain while walking. The study found no meaningful difference between the groups in hip pain improvement, though flexible shoes showed small gains in hip-related symptoms and quality of life, and supportive shoes resulted in fewer reported adverse events. Overall, the findings suggest that footwear that has previously been found to be beneficial for knee OA pain does not reduce hip OA pain. The researchers note that future studies could compare intervention shoes with patients’ own personal shoes, rather than provide brand new shoes to both groups.