Application of heat and a home exercise program for pain and function levels in patients with knee osteoarthritis: A randomized controlled trial

Abstract

Aim This study aimed to determine the effect of application of superficial local heat and a home exercise program on pain and function levels to patients with bilateral knee osteoarthritis. Methods This study was conducted in Turkey between January 2014 and February 2015. The sample group of the study consisted of 62 patients with osteoarthritis; 15 assigned to heat application, 15 to exercise, 15 to exercise after heat application, and 17 for the control group. While the patients in the control group received routine treatment only, the patients in the intervention group were treated with heat application, exercise, or exercise after heat application, suggested for 5 days a week for 4 weeks in addition to routine treatment. Results In this study, all of the intervention groups had decreases in Visual Analogue Scale Pain and Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index pain, stiffness, and function scores when compared with the control group. It was found that this decrease in Visual Analogue Scale Pain and Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index scores was mostly in the exercise group, but this condition was not statistically significant. Conclusions As a result, it is recommended that nurses train patients with osteoarthritis on heat application and home exercises and encourage them to apply these practices.

Effects of exercise on knee osteoarthritis: A systematic review

“…Concerning selection bias, most of the studies don't give information about the way the random sequence generation was performed, with only five being considered low risk of bias (DeVita et al, 2018;Dias et al, 2017;Karadağ, Taşci, Doğan, Demir, & Kiliç, 2019;Shellington, Gill, Shigematsu, & Petrella, 2019;Silva et al, 2015). However, most of the studies describe how the allocation concealment was done, being considered low risk of bias.…”

“…However, most of the studies describe how the allocation concealment was done, being considered low risk of bias. Only six studies lack information about it, leaving the possibility of bias unclear (DeVita et al, 2018;Ha, Yoon, Yoo, Kang, & Ko, 2018;Huang et al, 2020;Karadağ et al, 2019;Liu et al, 2019;Mazloum, Rabiei, Rahnama, & Sabzehparvar, 2018).…”

“…All participants of the studies had to be diagnosed with knee OA. These diagnoses were made according the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) (de Oliveira et al, 2012;Dias et al, 2017;Hunt et al, 2013;Imoto et al, 2012;Karadağ et al, 2019;Silva et al, 2015;Vincent et al, 2019), the Kellgren-Lawrence Scale (Braghin et al, 2018;de Oliveira et al, 2012;Huang et al, 2020;Imoto et al, 2012;Liu et al, 2019;Munukka et al, 2016;Vincent et al, 2019), the American Rheumatism Association (Liu et al, 2019) or only based on radiology (DeVita et al, 2018;Henriksen et al, 2014;Mazloum et al, 2018;Simão et al, 2012;Wang et al, 2011). Two studies don't specify how diagnoses were made (Ha et al, 2018;Shellington et al, 2019).…”

The Effects of Ginger Kidney Compress on Severity of Pain and Physical Functions of Individuals with Knee Osteoarthritis: A Randomized Controlled Trial

“…In our study, the reason for the decrease, albeit small, in the VAS-Pain score and WOMAC-Pain sub-scale, WOMAC-Stiffness sub-scale, and WOMAC-Physical function sub-scale scores of the individuals in the hot compress group at the end of the 7-day application, is thought to be conditions such as increased circulation by vasodilation due to the effect of the temperature in the area where heat was applied, decreased pressure and tension on nerve endings, reduced pain, and relaxed muscles as a result of removing metabolic residues that cause pain from the region. No studies conducted on the waist region as an application area for reducing pain in knee OA were encountered in the literature, only studies on the application on the knee region have been identified 33,[44][45][46][47][48] .…”

An Overview of Cupping Treatment

“…üzerine etki ederek kas, tendon, kapsül ve ligamanlarda esneklik artışına neden olur. Sıcaklığı etkisiyle ayrıca hücresel metabolizmada hızlanma ve analjezik etki sağlar 24. Fakat bu yöntemde cildi ısıtma süresi ve sıcaklık derecesi etkin bir şekilde kontrol edilemediğinden ciltte yanıklar meydana gelebilmektedir 15,22.…”