Purpose:
Knee arthritis is a knee joint cartilage disease that causes changes in people's physical and mental performance. The purpose of this study was to Comparison the effect of corrective exercises and electrical muscle stimulation on pain and knee proprioception of middle-aged women with knee pain.
Methods:
The current research was semi-experimental and and practical with design pre-test and post-test. The statistical population of the present study included all women aged 50-60 years with knee osteoarthritis pain in Isfahan. A number of 30 people from the community were purposefully selected and randomly placed in two groups of corrective exercises (15 people) (Age: 58.40±1.4 years, Height: 158.19±1.3 cm, Weight: 71.32±6.7 kg) and EMS training (15 people) (Age: 56.08±6.4 years, Height: 157.18±4.4 cm, Weight: 157.18±7.0 cm, Weight: 50.4±7.4 kg). Each two group did their own exercises for eight weeks, three sessions each week, and each session lasted 30-60 minutes. Before and after the exercise period pain and knee proprioception of the patients respectively using the visual pain scale (VAS) and Biodex isokinetic were measured. Data were analyzed was mixed repeated measures test at a significance level of 0.05.
Results:
Regarding pain, a significant difference was observed for the corrective group between before (6.11±1.72) and after (3.25±1.25) and for the EMS group between before (6.71±1.12) and after (4.05±1.45) (P=0.001). Regarding proprioception for the 30 degree angle for the corrective group between before (5.27±1.2) and after (4.12±1.08) and for the EMS group between before (4.84±1.58) and after (4.12±1.03) And a significant difference was observed in proprioception at an angle of 60 degrees for the correction group between before (6.07±0.54) and after (5.02±0.27) and in the EMS group between before (5.11±1.17) and after (4.89±1.14) (P=0.001). The results of between-group changes were also significant for 60-degree proprioception (η2=0.52, P=0.017, F (1,28)= 0.201), 30-degree proprioception (η2=0.41, F (1,28)=11/17, P=0/017), and pain (η2=0.21, F (1,28)=14/017, P=0/034), but the exercises were more effective in the correction group.
Conclusion:
The results indicated that both exercise programs were effective, but, Corrective exercise program for improving pain factors and knee proprioception in female patients with knee arthrosis was followed by an 8-week exercise program from the muscle movement group. Therefore, occupational therapists can used the results of this research in the treatment of patients with knee arthritis.