Effects of Functional Ability in patients with knee osteoarthritis after taking Corticosteroid injection and routine physical therapy

Abstract

Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most well-known type of joint inflammation. It is degenerative joint disease or "extent" joint pain. OA can cause irritation, stiffness, and swelling. Objective: To determine the functional ability of knee OA patients after intra-articular corticosteroid injection and routine physical therapy. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted with over 150 participants and the data was collected from Haq hospital and the University of Lahore teaching hospital for 6 months. The data was collected using the nonprobability purposive sampling technique. The knee injury and OA outcome score questionnaire were utilized as the outcome measure (KOOS). SPSS V.25 was used for statistical analysis. Results:  The mean age for the subjects was 55.08±11.88. The statistically significant results were found with pain, symptoms, improved activities of daily living, sports and recreation, and quality of life in the group of patients who have received physical therapy. Conclusions: It is concluded that physical therapy shows better functional ability as compared to corticosteroid injection. But the corticosteroid injections are useful in short-term treatment and exercise therapy can be recommended for patients with severe arthritis as an effective method for long-term improvement.