In conclusion, we could report that kinesio taping has significant immediate effects after a single kinesio taping application on range of motion, pain and functional status in patients with knee osteoarthritis. We could also report that KT in addition to conventional treatment is not superior to conventional treatment alone in terms of clinical outcomes over 3 weeks later.

The aim of the study was to compare the effects of low-intensity exercise programs for lower extremities, either supervised or at home, on pain, muscle strength, balance and the hemodynamic parameters of knee osteoarthritis (OA) patients. This randomized study included 78 patients with knee OA in 2 groups of supervised and home-based exercise program. Exercises were applied to the first group in the clinic as a group exercise program and were demonstrated to the second group to be performed at home. Before and after the 6-week exercise program, assessment was made of pain, quadriceps and hamstring muscle strengths, 6-min walk test (6MWT), and non-invasive hemodynamic parameters. Results of the 78 patients, 56 completed the study. Pain, muscle strength, and 6MWT scores showed significant improvements in both groups. There were also significant differences in the amount of change in pain and muscle strength (pain: p = 0.041, Rqdc: 0.009, Lqdc: 0.013, Rhms: 0.04) which indicated greater improvements in the supervised group. The balance scores of supervised group showed a significant improvement (p = 0.009). No significant change was determined in hemodynamic parameters of either group. Conclusion according to the results of this study showed that low-intensity lower extremity exercises conducted in a clinic under the supervision of a physiotherapist were more effective than home-based exercises in reducing post-activity pain levels and improving quadriceps and right hamstring muscle strength. Both the supervised and home exercise programs were seen to be effective in reducing rest pain and increasing 6 MW distance in knee osteoarthritis patients.

Our results showed that although people with chronic neck pain reported higher pain intensity and fear of movement, pain intensity and kinesiophobia degree did not associate to their physical activity levels. It can be speculated that high kinesiophobia degrees cause low physical activity levels for women, but not for men.

BackgroundMost rehabilitation programs are hospital-based and rely on regular supervision (1). However, mobile health technologies such as smartphone applications may provide lower-cost ways to monitor and train the patients (2). We have developed a mobile-phone application for monitoring and training the patients at home.ObjectivesThe purpose of this study was to compare a mobile-phone-based home exercise training program along with supervised physiotherapy program to a brochure-based home exercise training program along with supervised physiotherapy program in patients with knee osteoarthritis. We hypothesized that the patients who received mobile-phone-based home exercise training program along with supervised physiotherapy program over 3 weeks would have better balance, quality of life and less pain and disability score versus the patients who received brochure-based home exercise training program along with supervised physiotherapy program.MethodsThis was a randomized, prospective, comparative clinical study. The study included 40 patients, aged 4565 years, who diagnosed with a grade 2-3 knee osteoarthritis. The patients were randomly divided into two groups. While one group (n=20) received a mobile-phone-based home exercise training program along with supervised physiotherapy program, the second group (n=20) received a brochure-based home exercise training program along with supervised physiotherapy program as 15 sessions for a total of three weeks, five sessions per week. Pain intensity, balance, disability, and quality of life were measured with Visual Analogue Scale, Berg Balance Scale, WOMAC, and SF-36, respectively. All of the assessments procedures were performed again after the treatment.ResultsThere were statistically significant improvements in measures of pain intensity, balance, disability, and quality of life between pre- and post treatment in both groups (p<0.05). However, no significant differences were found in any of patient outcome variables between the groups (p>0.05).ConclusionWe could report that mobile-phone-based home exercise training program is not superior to brochure-based home exercise training program in terms of patient outcomes over 3-week program.References[1] Wang CH, Chou PC, Joa WC, et al. Mobile-phone-based home exercise training program decreases systemic inflammation in COPD: a pilot study. BMC Pulm Med. 2014Aug30;14:142.[2] Persell SD, Karmali KN, Stein N, et al. Design of a randomized controlled trial comparing a mobile phone-based hypertension health coaching application to home blood pressure monitoring alone: The Smart Hypertension Control Study. Contemp Clin Trials. 2018Oct;73:92-97.Disclosure of InterestsNone declared

Objective. In this study, we compared the effects of intermittent pneumatic compression along with conventional treatment with cold-pack treatment along with conventional treatment on clinical outcomes in patients with knee osteoarthritis. Methods. Eighty-nine patients with knee osteoarthritis participated in this study. One group received ultrasound, transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation, electrical stimulation, exercise, and cold packs. The second group received ultrasound, transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation, electrical stimulation, exercise, and intermittent pneumatic compression. Range of motion, muscle strength, knee swelling, pain intensity, and functional status were measured at baseline and 4th week. Results. We found significant improvements in range of motion, muscle strength, pain intensity, and functional status after the treatment in both groups (p<0.05). When comparing the effects of these two treatment programs, it was observed that the intermittent pneumatic compression treatment group had a better outcome in terms of knee swelling (p=0.028). Conclusions. According to the results, we could report that intermittent pneumatic compression therapy in addition to conventional treatment has significant positive effects on clinical outcomes in patients with knee osteoarthritis. We could also report that intermittent pneumatic compression therapy along with conventional treatment is superior to cold-pack therapy along with conventional treatment in terms of knee swelling in patients with knee osteoarthritis. This trial is registered with NCT03806322.