Comparison of the effect of six weeks of training in water and on dry land on pain and range of motion in patients with knee osteoarthritis

Abstract

This study aimed to compare the effects of 6 weeks of training in water and on pain, and range of motion variables in patients with knee osteoarthritis. To conduct this study, 24 women over the age of 45 with knee osteoarthritis were purposively selected to perform hydrotherapy exercises (n= 13) and dry exercises (n=11). randomly assigned to one group. After selecting subjects, anthropometric indicators such as height and weight were assessed using tape measures and scales. also knee range of motion was measured using a goniometer, and knee pain was assessed using the global and local Knee Injury and Knee Osteoarthritis Outcomes Questionnaire (KOOS). Exercises were then performed over 18 sessions in both the hydrotherapy group and dry exercise. After completing the 18 sessions, participants were divided into two groups and reassessed. In the inferential statistics section, the Shapiro-Wilk test was used to check the normality of the data distribution, and the Lune test was used to check the homogeneity of variance of the data at a significance level ≥0.05. We also used correlated t-tests, analysis of covariance, U-Man-Whitney and Wilcoxon to check for differences between and within group means. The results of this study showed that hydrotherapy exercises and dry exercises had a significant effect on pain reduction (p=0.01, p=0.001) and knee range of motion (p=0.001). In the context of between-group comparisons, there were significant differences between hydrotherapy exercise and dry exercise in pain variables (p<0.05), knee range of motion (p<0.05). There was no. In general, the results of this study showed the effectiveness of aquatic and dry exercise in reducing pain and improving range of motion in women with knee osteoarthritis. According to the obtained results, to reduce pain and improve range of motion in women with knee osteoarthritis, it is proposed to use her two training methods: water and land.