Both Mirror Therapy and TENS were found to be effective in pain reduction on a short-term basis. However, no difference between the two groups was found. Substantiation with long-term follow-up is essential to find its long-term effectiveness. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Background The Hemophilia Joint Health Score (HJHS) was developed and validated to detect arthropathy in children. Additional evidence is required to show validity in adults. We studied the convergent and discriminant construct validity of the HJHS version 2.1(HJHSv2.1) in adults with hemophilia. A secondary aim was to define age‐related normative adult HJHSv2.1 reference values. Methods We studied 192 adults with hemophilia, and 120 healthy adults in four age‐matched groups—18 to 29, 30 to 40, 41 to 50, and >50 years—at nine centers. Trained physiotherapists scored the HJHS and World Federation of Hemophilia (WFH) joint score. Health history, the Functional Independence Scale of Hemophilia (FISH), Hemophilia Activities List (HAL), and Short‐Form McGill Pain Questionnaire (SF‐MPQ) were also collected. Results The median age was 35.0 years. Of participants with hemophilia, 68% had severe, 14% moderate, and 18% mild disease. The HJHS correlated strongly with WFH score (Spearman’s rho [rs] = .95, P < .001). Moderate correlations were seen between the FISH (rs = .50, P < .001) and SF‐MPQ Present Pain Intensity (rs = .50, P < .001), while a modest correlation was found with the HAL (rs = −.37, P < .001). The HJHS significantly differentiated between age groups (Kruskal‐Wallis T = 35.02, P < .001) and disease severity in participants with hemophilia. The HJHS had high internal reliability (Cronbach’s α = .88). We identified duration of swelling as a redundant item in the HJHS. Conclusions The HJHS shows evidence of strong convergent and discriminant construct validity to detect arthropathy in adults with hemophilia and is well suited for use in this population.

No abstract

No abstract

Background and Objectives: Knee osteoarthritis (OA) is a painful condition affecting 85% of population with radiologically evident changes in subjects above 65 years of age, causing disability and muscle weakness. Shortwave diathermy (SWD) is a deep heating modality which has been extensively used to alleviate pain in persons with OA knees.However the problem of non-adherence to this modality remains a challenge and a persistent problem because of long treatment period, as a result of which, substantial numbers of patients do not get the maximum benefit, leading to poor health outcomes. Therefore the purpose of this study was to find out if shorter periods of shortwave diathermy in persons with knee osteoarthritis improve outcomes and compliance to therapy.Design: Quasi experimental pre-test post-test study.Methodology: A total of 15 subjects with OA knee, mean age of 57.4 ± 5 years consented to participate in this study after a written consent. The baseline assessment was performed using Visual Analogue Scale (VAS), Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC) and Elderly Mobility Scale (EMS) for assessing pain, activity and mobility status respectively. After 5 days of SWD and Quadriceps strengthening exercises, a final assessment was done to document the change in VAS, WOMAC and EMS. This data was analyzed to find out if outcomes improved with short period of SWD. The number of drop outs was also analyzed to report the patient compliance to therapy. Results:The results from this study shows significant reduction in pain using VAS (p value =0.003), improvement in WOMAC scores (p value =0.002) and EMS (p value =0.033), following 5 days of SWD. The dropout rate due to noncompliance was 6.5%. Conclusion:There was significant reduction in pain, and improvement in activity level and mobility status following short period of SWD in subjects with OA knees with a low drop out percentage.