EFFECTIVENESS OF NEUROMUSCULAR EXERCISES AND PILATES EXERCISES ON PAIN AND FUNCTION IN SUBJECTS WITH CHRONIC KNEE OSTEOARTHRITIS

Chinta Meenakshi, Dr. Patchava Apparao*, Ganapathi Swamy, R. Geetha Mounika and P. Kiran Prakash

ABSTRACT

Objective: Osteoarthritis is one of the degenerative disorders characterized by cartilage loss as well as soft tissues around the joint. It is extremely prevalent disease in society, with a worldwide distribution. There are studies showing both Neuromuscular Exercises and Pilates Exercises have been proved effective when compared to Conventional Physiotherapy on reducing pain and improving Function in Chronic Knee Osteoarthritis. But literature is limited on their comparison. Hence, the need of the study arises. Materials And Methods: Prospective Study design. 64 subjects with mean age of 53 years having a clinical diagnosis of Chronic Knee Osteoarthritis were randomly allocated in to two groups. In Group I (n=32) subjects were treated with Neuromuscular Exercises, where as in Group II (n=32) subjects were treated with Pilates Exercises. Participants were given intervention thrice a week for 8 weeks. The outcome measures of this intervention were measured in term of VAS for Pain and WOMAC score for Function. Results: Independent „t‟ test was used to compare the mean significance difference between continuous variables. Paired „t‟ test was used to assess the statistical significant difference pre and post test scores. Statistical analysis of the data revealed that within group comparison both groups showed significant improvement in all parameters. Where as in between groups comparison Neuromuscular Exercises showed better improvement compared to Pilates exercises. Conclusion: In this study, 8 weeks of Neuromuscular and Pilates Exercises showed significant improvement in decreasing Pain and Improving Function in subjects with Chronic Knee Osteoarthritis. However Neuromuscular Exercises were found to be more effective when compared to Pilates Exercises.

Keywords: Chronic Knee Osteoarthritis, Pilates Exercises, Neuromuscular Exercises, WOMAC.