EFFECT OF SUPERVISED EXERCISE PROGRAM AND HOME BASED EXERCISE PROGRAM IN OSTEOARTHRITIS OF KNEE JOINT

Introduction: Osteoarthritis of knee is a most common degenerative joint disease. Exercise programmes have been shown to be effective when patients are closely supervised by physiotherapists; however, data are lacking on the efficacy of an unsupervised home based exercise regimen in subjects with osteoarthritis of knee. Materials and Method: An experimental study was carried out to compare supervised exercise program and home based exercise program in osteoarthritis of knee joint. A convenient sample of 60 subjects with unilateral osteoarthritis of knee joint, age between 45 and 55 years of both sexes were divided in to supervised exercise group (Group-A) and home based exercise group (Group-B). Group-A was receiving exercises under the supervision of physiotherapist at outpatient department of Physiotherapy College and Group-B was doing exercises at home following a specially designed exercise pamphlet. Numeric Pain Rating Scale and Western Ontario and McMaster universities Index were used as outcome measure before and after two months of intervention. Results: There was a significant decrease in pain and also significant improvement in physical function (p<0.001) in subjects with knee osteoarthritis who received supervised exercises and home based exercises. Both are effective in treatment of osteoarthritis of knee joint. Conclusion: The results of this study indicate that both supervised exercise programme and home based exercises are effective in alleviation of pain and improving physical function in osteoarthritis of knee joint.