Osteoarthritis is a chronic degenerative joint disease where the cartilage of a joint breaks down leading to pain, inflammation and the inability to move the joint ("Osteoarthritis"). “Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most common joint disease causing disability, affecting more than 7 million people in the United States. More disability and clinical symptoms result from OA of the knee than from any other joint” (Deyle et al., 2005). In this condition, the synovial joint of the knee is damaged overtime from overuse or other causes which leads to the inability of the knee joint to repair itself (Hunter, Arden & Pietro-Alhambra, 2014). The common complications associated with OA are disability and pain of the knee (Van Baar, Dekker, Oostendorp, Bijl
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No other technique is needed to show an added benefit. A single blind study was conducted on 183 individuals with osteoarthritis of the knee within the Outpatient Department of Physical Therapy at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. This was to test for how exercise therapy with an addition of agility and perturbation training techniques help to reduce pain and improve function. The individual’s primary outcome measure was their Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC) in which they were tested pre and post-therapy interventions, and the secondary outcome measure included the individual’s assessment of his knee instability and pain. The pain was tested on a scale of zero being no pain and 10 being excruciating pain in the knee. Both groups had improvements in outcome measures, but there were no significant differences between the two groups. At baseline for the standard exercise group, the total WOMAC mean score was 28.1 and the knee pain rating was a 4.4. The agility and perturbation group’s baseline scores were 28.1 on the WOMAC scoring and 4.7 on the pain scale. At the two month follow up, the standard exercise group had a mean total WOMAC score of 22.0 and a mean of 4.1 on the pain scale. In the same follow up time frame, the agility and perturbation group showed a mean WOMAC score of 19 and a mean of 3.5 on the pain scale. In both cases, the use of exercise reduced the individual’s perception of pain as well as lowered the WOMAC score by a statistically significant margin. “Although both intervention groups exhibited some moderate improvements in self-reported outcome measures, there was no additive benefit from including agility and perturbation training techniques in a standard exercise program for our participants with knee OA” (Fitzgerald et al.). There was no statistically
No other technique is needed to show an added benefit. A single blind study was conducted on 183 individuals with osteoarthritis of the knee within the Outpatient Department of Physical Therapy at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. This was to test for how exercise therapy with an addition of agility and perturbation training techniques help to reduce pain and improve function. The individual’s primary outcome measure was their Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC) in which they were tested pre and post-therapy interventions, and the secondary outcome measure included the individual’s assessment of his knee instability and pain. The pain was tested on a scale of zero being no pain and 10 being excruciating pain in the knee. Both groups had improvements in outcome measures, but there were no significant differences between the two groups. At baseline for the standard exercise group, the total WOMAC mean score was 28.1 and the knee pain rating was a 4.4. The agility and perturbation group’s baseline scores were 28.1 on the WOMAC scoring and 4.7 on the pain scale. At the two month follow up, the standard exercise group had a mean total WOMAC score of 22.0 and a mean of 4.1 on the pain scale. In the same follow up time frame, the agility and perturbation group showed a mean WOMAC score of 19 and a mean of 3.5 on the pain scale. In both cases, the use of exercise reduced the individual’s perception of pain as well as lowered the WOMAC score by a statistically significant margin. “Although both intervention groups exhibited some moderate improvements in self-reported outcome measures, there was no additive benefit from including agility and perturbation training techniques in a standard exercise program for our participants with knee OA” (Fitzgerald et al.). There was no statistically