Effectiveness of Combined Kinetic Chain Exercises In the Treatment of Knee Osteoarthritis in Peri-Menopausal and Post-Menopausal Women in Guwahati, Assam, India

Abstract

: Osteoarthritis (OA) is an extremely prevalent Rheumatic Musculoskeletal disorder and the prevalence of knee OA in peri-menopausal and post-menopausal women is reported to be high in many parts of India. Though a growing body of evidence suggests the effectiveness of Combined Kinetic Chain Exercises (CCEs) in the management of knee OA but a precise protocol is yet to be established. The study was aimed to evaluate and compare the effectiveness of two different protocols of CCEs versus conventional CCEs in the management of knee osteoarthritis.151 peri-menopausal/ post menopausal women (40-65 years) with knee osteoarthritis were randomly allocated to either group A (Control group: conventional combined kinetic chain exercises), group B (retrowalking and conventional combined kinetic chain exercises) or group C (perturbation training and conventional combined kinetic chain exercises). Intervention was given for 3 days/week for 6 weeks. Outcome measures used were Numeric Pain Rating Scale (NPRS), Timed Up and Go test (TUG) and Lower Extremity Functional Scale (LEFS). SPSS 21.0 version was used for all statistical analysis. Paired t-test was used for within group analysis and unpaired t-test was used for between group comparisons. Level of significance was considered as p<0.05.Statistically significant improvements were seen within all the three groups at the end of 6 weeks of treatment. Subjects in both the experimental groups (group B and group C) exhibited statistically significant improvements than group A (control group) in all outcome measures. Group B showed better improvements in all outcome measures when compared to group C; but the differences were not statistically significant. It can be concluded that Retrowalking combined with conventional CCEs and Perturbation exercises combined with conventional CCEs are equally effective in the treatment of knee OA; but significantly better than conventional CCEs alone.