Characteristics of eligible patients with knee osteoarthritis accepting versus declining participation in a randomised trial investigating the effect of weight loss versus knee arthroplasty to explore generalisability: A cross-sectional study.

Background: The INtensive diet versus Knee Arthroplasty (INKA) trial is a randomised trial assessing weight loss as an alternative to knee arthroplasty (KA) in obese patients with severe knee osteoarthritis (OA) awaiting KA (NCT05172843). The external validity of the INKA trial may be hampered if the patients who participate differ from those who decline participation.

Objective: To compare baseline characteristics between patients who enrol in the INKA trial and those who decline participation (i.