Effect of Aquatic Exercise Therapy on the Quadriceps Muscle Electromyography and Pain in Women with Knee Osteoarthritis

Osteoarthritis is one of the biggest problems of the elderly population which may lead to disability and health problems and has socioeconomical consequences. Therefore, a therapeutic method that can help these people and reduce the complications of this disease has great importance. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of aquatic exercise therapy on the quadriceps muscle electromyography and pain management in women with knee osteoarthritis.
Thirty elderly women with knee osteoarthritis were selected and then divided into two groups by simple random sampling, experimental (age: 58.73±4.78) and control (age: 56.93±5.43). It should be noted that the average age of the experimental and control groups was not significant (P=0.344, t=0.963). The experimental group did aquatic exercise therapy for a period of 20 sessions with a frequency of five sessions per week, and each session lasted for 60-45 minutes. Before and after the intervention, the electrical activity of the quadriceps muscles using surface electromyography biovision made in Switzerland and pain using a visual pain scale (Visual analog scale) were measured. Data were analyzed by paired and independent sample t-test at a significance level of p≤0.05.
Although aquatic exercise therapy did not have a statistical significance on electrical activity of the vastus medialis oblique (p=0.711), vastuslateralis (p=0.494) and rectus femoris muscles (p=0.831), however, it increases the mean of the electrical activity of the muscles. Results also showed this training reduce pain in patients (p=0.001).
Aquatic exercise therapy had no desired effect on quadriceps muscle electromyography. However, this trial has a desirable effect on reducing pain in women with knee osteoarthritis.