The short-term effects of hydrotherapy on pain and self-perceived functional status in individuals living with osteoarthritis of the knee joint

Abstract

Background People living with knee osteoarthritis (OA) commonly present with difficulty in walking long distances, ascending and descending stairs or rising from sitting. These functional limitations have been shown to have a negative effect on their overall activities of daily living. Objectives The aim of this study was to determine the effects of a 4-week hydrotherapy programme on measures of pain and self-perceived functional status in individuals living with knee OA. Method A total of 18 participants with chronic knee OA participated in this study. Participants completed 4 weeks of hydrotherapeutic intervention provided by an independent physiotherapist. Outcome measures for the study included pain assessed using the visual analogue scale (VAS) and self-perceived functional status using the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC). Outcome measures were assessed at baseline and after the 4 weeks of intervention. Results The 4-week hydrotherapy programme resulted in a significant decrease in pain and a significant improvement in self-perceived functional status in all participants. There was a statistically significant mean decrease in VAS scores of 3.72 (± 2.45), p ≤ 0.05, with a 95% confidence interval ranging from 2.506 to 4.938. There was also a statistically significant mean decrease in WOMAC scores of 29.5 (± 15.51), p ≤ 0.05. with a 95% confidence interval ranging from 21.788 to 37.212. Conclusion This study demonstrated that a 4-week hydrotherapeutic exercise programme results in significantly reduced pain and improved self-perceived functional status in individuals living with knee OA. Clinical implications Four weeks of hydrotherapy exercises twice a week in a heated pool can significantly decrease pain and improve functional status in individuals with knee OA.

Literature Review: The Effectiveness of Kinesiotaping and Hydrotherapy in Improving The Quality of Life of The Elderly With Osteoarthritis

“…The process is continued by screening articles that are in accordance with the research objectives and producing 4 articles that will be reviewed. The articles reviewed are articles from research from (Sekome and Maddocks, 2019), (Taglietti et al, 2018), (Sangam et al, 2015) and (Nwe et al, 2019). showed that the administration of kinesio taping and conventional exercise was more effective than only given conventional exercise, indicated by a signifi cant decrease in WOMAC scores between the experimental group and the control group.…”

Efectos de la hidroterapia sobre el dolor en osteoartritis y fibromialgia: Una revisión narrativa.

“…La HT sobre el dolor tuvo una mejora significativa en 10 de los 11 artículos para FM (9,(17)(18)(19)(20)(21)(22)(23)(24)(25) y para la OA 8 de 9 artículos (26)(27)(28)(29)(30)(31)(32)(33). Para el manejo de la FM la cantidad de semanas de intervención pueden ser importantes para evidenciar reducciones en los niveles de dolor, ya que en el único estudio en donde no se encontraron mejoras significativas realizaron solo 4 semanas, con 12 sesiones de 50 minutos (34) en comparación con los demás que duraron como mínimo 8 semanas; en este estudio la estructura de la intervención y duración de las sesiones fueron similares al resto de los estudios.…”

“…Uno de los estudios fue más específico describiendo un tiempo de 3 meses después de las intervenciones (29). Algunos estudios recomiendan mayor cantidad de sesiones para encontrar resultados a largo plazo (27,34), aunque en general ninguno los alcanzó. Sin embargo, teniendo en cuenta que son enfermedades crónicas, se recomienda realizar actividad física en agua o en tierra como estrategia de mantenimiento y de forma continua para obtener efectos beneficiosos en el tiempo.…”

Beneficial Effects of Geological Materials: With Africa Case Descriptions

“…This treatment regime has shown significant effects for some diseases such as cardiovascular conditions and skin lesions (Gebretsadik et al, 2021;Gebretsadik, 2023). Recent pertinent references on the role of balneotherapy in the treatment regimen of a host of non-communicable diseases in Africa include those of: Pedrazzini et al, 2016;Sekome and Maddocks, 2019;Williams, 2019;Mangwane and Ntanjana, 2020;Ncube et al, 2020;Oluwaseun et al, 2020;Fikri-Benbrahim et al, 2021;Gebretsadik et al, 2021;Haji et al, 2021;Kgabi and Ambushe, 2023;Wang et al, 2023a).…”