The Effect of Massage Therapy on Functional Problems in Elderly Women with Osteoarthritis: A Cross-Clinical Trial

Osteoarthritis is the most common articular disease and functional disorders is one of the symptoms. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of massage on knee functional problems in elderly women with osteoarthritis.

The statistical population consisted of 58 elderly women with mild to moderate osteoarthritis referred to Rheumatology Clinic of Bojnurd city using a cross-sectional clinical trial the sampling method was purposive and the patients were divided into control group and comparative group. After the day of diagnosis, during the intervention seven phase of intervention massages was performed on the knees fifteen minutes each day for one week with effleurage method. In intervention group standard treatments (100 mg Diclofenac) were used. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS 16 software, and paired t-test, paired and independent t-tests, central and dispersion indices were calculated.

In response to the main purpose of the study, "Determination of mean pain in older women before and after intervention" in both groups showed that knee massage reduced pain severity which revealed there was a significant difference.

Although there are many techniques which can be effective on functional disorders but performing massage techniques such as massage therapy are more effective for reduction of functional disorders due to availability, cheapness, patients interests, informality, absence of complications and efficiency.