Research Article Open Access

Effect of Conventional Exercises with Balance Training &Only Conventional Exercises in Patients with Osteoarthritis of Knee

Abstract

The study aimed to find out the effects of combining conventional exercises with balance exercises in improving functional abilities in OA knee patients. Thirty patients above the age of 50 years who were diagnosed as having “ primary osteoarthritis ’’ according to the criteria of American College of Rheumatology (ACR) and who had radiologically more than stage II bilateral knee OA according to the Kellgren & Lawrence Scale were included in the study.Exercise program – First group of 15 patients (Group A) received both balance and conventional exercises, while the second group of 15 patients (Group B) received only conventional exercises for the total duration of 6 weeks. The Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Index of Osteoarthritis (WOMAC) was used in the assessment of the patients before and after 6 weeks exercise program. The results show that combining balance exercises to conventional exercises improves the functional ability of OA knee patients more than the conventional exercises alone. Based on the presented findings, exercises which aimed to improve the stability of the knee joint, through training of the neuromuscular and proprioceptive systems, attending to neutral alignment of the knee, and muscle strengthening both are necessary.

Harshneet Kaur Chhabr, P. Sathya