Quadriceps exercise best reduces knee OA pain

A quadriceps-specific exercise program was most effective at reducing pain for patients with knee osteoarthritis, according to a new analysis.

Knee OA develops in approximately one in two people during their lifetime, according to the CDC. Past studies have shown PT alone can alleviate pain for many patients but research has not shown the most effective program.

For their systematic review and meta-analysis, researchers with the University of Southern Denmark and the Copenhagen University Hospital in Denmark and the University of Nottingham in the U.K. looked at the results of 48 trials of exercise interventions for reducing pain and patient-reported disability in knee OA. All of the trials compared exercise programs to nonexercise control programs.

Their goal was to identify an optimal exercise program and its characteristics, type and intensity of exercise, program length, duration of individual supervised sessions and number of sessions per week.
Researchers found similar effects for pain reduction for aerobic, resistance and performance exercise (standardized mean differences of 0.67, 0.62 and 0.48, respectively). Their analysis also showed single-type exercise programs were more effective than programs including different types of exercise (SMD 0.61 vs. 0.16).

When it came to pain reduction, results showed the effect of aerobic exercise increased with an increased number of supervised sessions. Quadriceps-specific exercise was better at reducing pain than lower limb exercise, investigators found. They also discovered more frequent supervised exercise at least three sessions a week led to pain reduction.
Intensity, duration of sessions and patient characteristics did not affect the findings. Researchers found similar results for the effect on patient-reported disability.

Optimal exercise programs for knee OA should have one aim and focus on improving aerobic capacity, quadriceps muscle strength, or lower extremity performance, the authors concluded. For best results, the program should be supervised and carried out three times a week. Such programs have a similar effect regardless of patient characteristics, including radiographic severity and baseline pain.

Abstract:- http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/art.38290/abstract

Ref.- TodayinPT