A randomized controlled trial of aquatic and land-based exercise in patients with knee osteoarthritis

Abstract

Only land-based exercise showed some improvement in pain and muscle strength compared with the control group, while no clinical benefits were detectable after aquatic exercise compared with the control group. However, aquatic exercise has significantly less adverse effects compared with a land-based programme.

Efetividade do treinamento de resistência à fadiga dos músculos dos membros inferiores dentro e fora d'água no equilíbrio estático e dinâmico de idosos

“…This result differs from what was found by Lund et al 13 , who compared the efficacy of aquatic and non-aquatic exercise programs on the body balance of elderly patients and observed that the aquatic exercises were significantly better for their balance than were the nonaquatic exercises. Nevertheless, it is important to highlight that the subjects of that study suffered from osteoarthritis in their knees, thus differing from our sample.…”

“…Likewise, other studies had shown that muscle training has a positive impact on balance among older adults 8,9,11,13,18 . Our training protocol had a frequency of twice a week, for a period of six straight weeks.…”

“…There is a growing trend within the clinical environment to indicate aquatic exercises for individuals who are afraid of, or who are at risk of falling [13][14][15][16][17] . Resende, Rassi and Viana 14 implemented a program of aquatic physical therapy for older women, lasting for 12 weeks, twice a week.…”

“…Aquatic exercises make it possible to create situations of instability by using effects such as turbulence, providing a great amount of sensory information, which in turn promotes improvement in body balance reactions 14,15,[17][18][19][20] . On the other hand, exercises performed in a non-aquatic environment are closer to activities of daily living activities, since they do not cancel out the force of gravity [9][10][11][12][13] . However, there are no studies in the literature comparing the effectiveness of muscle endurance training in aquatic and non-aquatic environments.…”

“…Most studies in the literature have shown improvements in older patients' balance through multifactorial interventions, including balance 10,11 , muscle endurance 9,11 or muscle strengthening [11][12][13] exercises, or an association between these [8][9][10] . Studies that assess the effect of muscle endurance training alone on balance are rare 9,11 .…”