Comparison of Effects among Tai-Chi Exercise, Aquatic Exercise, and a Self-help Program for Patients with Knee Osteoarthritis

PURPOSE: This study was to compare the effects among Tai-Chi exercise, aquatic Exercise, and a self-help program for knee osteoarthritis patients on symptoms of arthritis, muscle strength, balance, and difficulty of performing activities. METHOD: There were 50 final subjects50. A non-equivalent pretest-posttest design was used. The collected data was analyzed using SPSS for Window. One-way ANOVA and Scheffe's multiple comparison test were used 8 weeks after each program. RESULT: There were significant differences in joint pain (p=.000), stiffness (p=.001), knee extensor peak torque (p=.006), knee flexor (p=.002), and difficult of performing activity (p=.000), but there was no significant difference in balance (p=.648). The Tai-Chi group was significantly different from the self-help group for knee extensor peak torque, knee flexor and stiffness on Scheffe's multiple comparison tests. In addition, the Tai-Chi group or aquatic group were significantly different from the self-help group for difficulty of performing activities (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: There are significant differences in the effects of the nursing intervention among the three groups. The Tai-Chi group and aquatic group were significantly different from the self-help group. However, it seems that Tai-Chi exercise may be more suitable than aquatic exercise in osteoarthritis exercise programs. Further studies with a longitudinal study are necessary to confirm the longer exercise period.