Comparing two Therapeutic Methods of Hip Abductor-Quadriceps Strengthening and Quadriceps Strengthening alone on Pain and Function in Women with Knee Osteoarthritis

Aims and Knee OA is the most common joint disease. Hip abductor muscle weaknesses has been reported in people with knee osteoarthritis. The aim of this study was to compare the effect of two therapeutic methods namely hip abductor-quadriceps strengthening and quadriceps strengthening alone in women with knee OA. 34 subjects were randomly assigned to the hip group or to the quadriceps group. The hip group performed hip abductor and quadriceps strengthening exercises, whereas the quadriceps group performed quadriceps strengthening exercises (3 times per week for 8wk). Pain with NRS, knee function with WOMAC, single leg balance test and timed up and go test (TUG) were all assessed before and after intervention. Repeated measure ANOVA, and Paired t-test were used to compare outcome measures between groups over time. The results showed that there were significantly differences between the mean scores of pain, function, balance in both groups and TUG test in hip group before and after training (P<0.05). There was no significant difference in TUG test in quadriceps group (P>0.05). Repeated Measure results indicated that the mean scores of pain, balance and TUG test in hip group were significantly better than quadriceps group (P<0.05) while they were not significantly different in the physical function. Hip abductor- quadriceps strengthening exercises were more effective than quadriceps strengthening alone in reducing pain, improving function, single leg balance and in TUG test in women with knee OA.