Effects of Combined Glucosamine/Chondroitin With Structured Physical Therapy Program On Knee Osteoarthritis: A Randomized Control Trail

Abstract

Osteoarthritis is the most debilitating condition in general population. The incidence rate of this condition is very high. Objective: this study was conducted to observe the effectiveness of glucosamine/chondroitin alone and in combination with physiotherapy on Knee osteoarthritis. Methods: A randomized control trail registered at clinicaltrials.gov under the trail no of NCT05321836. Data was collected from the Physiotherapy clinic and Neurocounsel Hospital Islamabad from 26 July 2021 to 25th March 2022. 30 participants met inclusion criteria and were randomly divided into two groups via envelop method. The experimental group was given unlabeled 1500/1200 mg of GH/CS per day for period of 6 months along with physiotherapy treatment for two months (3 sessions per week). The Control group was treated with 1500/1200 mg of unlabeled GH/CS per day for 6 months. Tools used to measure the outcome were WOMAC scale & SF-36. Measure were taken at baseline, 4th week and at 8th week. Repeated Measure ANOVA was used to analyze results at various weeks and Post Hoc analysis was opted for comparison between groups. SPSS version 21.0 was used for data analysis  Results: Means+S.D of age in experimental & control group was 64.80+9.65, 60.93+7.61respectively. Repeated measure ANOVA within both groups significant difference at various weeks of treatment as p<0.05. Between groups, Independent t’ test also revealed statistically significant difference as p-value was <0.05. Conclusion: GH/CS along with physiotherapy is very effective in reducing patient’s pain, improving functions, mobility along with quality of life as compared to GH/CS alone.