Promoting health and quality of life of patients with osteoarthritis of knee joint through non-pharmacological treatment strategies: A randomized controlled trial

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Osteoarthritis (OA) is a chronic degenerative disorder which primarily affects the articular cartilage of synovial joints followed by bony remodeling and overgrowth at the margins of these joints. The consequences of OA are pain, joint stiffness, decreased muscle performance, and decreased aerobic capacity, which eventually affect the quality of life (QOL) and increased risk for disability. The objective of the present study was to investigate the effectiveness of two nonpharmacological treatment regimens, that is, yoga and conventional physiotherapy, on QOL in patients suffering from OA of knee joint. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 83 patients with bilateral OA of knee joint, between the age group of 40 and 80 years, both males and females, were assigned into two groups using computer-generated scheme: 43 in the experimental group (yoga with conventional physiotherapy program) and 40 in control group (conventional physiotherapy program). Western Ontario and McMaster Universities OA index (WOMAC) and Short-Form 36 (SF-36) health survey were measured before, after 15 days, and after 30 days of treatment sessions, and the data were analyzed using paired and unpaired t -test. RESULTS: The results of the study show significant improvement in both groups with regard to WOMAC and SF-36 at the end of 15 and 30 days of treatment regimen; however, when compared to the control group, experimental group had more significant improvement ( P < 0.05) in WOMAC and SF-36 at the end of 15 and 30 days of treatment. CONCLUSION: Yoga is more beneficial when added to conventional physiotherapy treatment regimen in promoting health and improving QOL in patients with OA of knee joint.

The impact of Yoga on patients with knee osteoarthritis: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

“…Among the 5 studies that specified the type of Yoga used, Hatha Yoga was employed in 4 studies [34,35,38,39], Chair Yoga in 1 study [36], and the remaining 3 studies did not explicitly mention the type of Yoga or utilized a combination of different types. Six studies assessed pain as an outcome measure [32-35, 38, 39], while four studies assessed physical function [33][34][35]39]. Additionally, four studies evaluated knee joint stiffness [33][34][35]39], three studies evaluated activities of ADL [36][37][38], and six studies assessed QOL [33][34][35][37][38][39].…”

“…Six studies assessed pain as an outcome measure [32-35, 38, 39], while four studies assessed physical function [33][34][35]39]. Additionally, four studies evaluated knee joint stiffness [33][34][35]39], three studies evaluated activities of ADL [36][37][38], and six studies assessed QOL [33][34][35][37][38][39]. Although different assessment scales were used across these studies, the data related to the same outcome measures were analyzed together.…”

“…Risk of bias assessments were conducted for all 8 included studies, as shown in Fig 2 . All the included studies explicitly described their methods of randomization, which was one of our inclusion criteria (100%). Six studies implemented allocation concealment (75%) [32][33][34][35][36][37], while the remaining 2 studies did not provide information regarding allocation concealment in their publications [38,39]. As the intervention involved Yoga treatment in the intervention group, blinding of the participants was not feasible (0%).…”

“…To explore the sources of heterogeneity, we conducted a subgroup analysis based on the duration of pain intervention. This analysis categorized the studies into two subgroups: interventions with a duration of �8 weeks [33][34][35]38] and interventions with a duration of >8 weeks [32,39]. The subgroup analysis showed that in the four studies with a yoga intervention duration of �8 weeks, yoga significantly reduced pain in patients with KOA compared to the control group, with low heterogeneity (SMD = -0.83; 95% CI = -1.22 to -0.43; P < 0.0001; I 2 = 42%).…”

Growing Trends in Scientific Publication in Physiotherapy Treatment of Knee Osteoarthritis: A Bibliometric Literature Analysis

“…Other articles included the use of ultrasound, an electrotherapeutic modality as an intervention for the treatment of knee osteoarthritis. A comparison of using therapeutic ultrasound and phonophoresis was also part of a few studies [26][27][28].…”