Comparative study of the effectiveness between balancing exercises and strengthening exercises with common use of TENS to improve functional ability in Osteoarthritis involving knee joint

Background and purpose: People with knee Osteoarthritis (OA) sometimes report episodes of knee instability that limit their activities of daily living. Proprioception and balance are important aspects of osteoarthritis treatment because of their strong correlation with function in the knee. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effects of balancing exercises and strengthening exercises to improve functional ability in knee osteoarthritis patients and also it may be helpful to identify the use of best treatment protocol for OA knee. Material and methods: Thirty OA knee patients randomly allocated into two groups and received either balancing exercises (Group A) or strengthening exercises (Group B). Both the groups received TENS and taken treatment for 4 days a week for 4 weeks. The outcome measures were VAS and WOMAC. VAS was used to measure intensity of knee pain and WOMAC was used for assessment of perceived pain, stiffness and functional ability. Results: After 4 weeks of treatment, significant reduction in the WOMAC score and VAS was found in both the Groups. The result showing statistical improvement is more in Group A than Group B. Conclusion: The results of the study shows that balancing exercise is more effective than strengthening exercise to improve the functional ability of OA involving knee joint. The improvement in Group A is more than Group B and having statistically highly significant.