engleski

WHOLE BODY VIBRATION PHYSIOTHERAPY KNEE OSTEOARTHRITIS (GONARTHROSIS)

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to compare the efficiency of a conventional physical therapy with the results of a modified therapy by the whole body vibration in the conservative osteoarthritis treatment among the female patients who suffer from a mild to a moderate knee osteoarthritis. Methods: The research included the sample of 31 female participants, who were treated at the Orthopaedics and Physical Therapy Ward of the County Hospital Bjelovar and the Medical Rehabilitation Centre “Daruvar Spa” in Daruvar. All the participants were 50 to 60 years old. The research was conducted within the period of 3 weeks. The participants were divided into two groups: the group of 16 female patients was taking the conventional physical therapy, while the group of 15 female participants was taking the modified physical therapy by the whole body vibration. All the participants were subjected to an isokinetic testing using the Biodex system 3, before and after the rehabilitation. All the participants filled a questionnaire: the WOMAC Osteoarthritis Index, which included subjective replies on the participants’ knee condition, It was filled in before and after the completed rehabilitation. The data processing was performed by application of STATISTICA for Windows, Version 9. Central and dispersive parameters were calculated for all variables. In order to determine significant differences among the results from two points of time for the same participants’ sample, the t – test was used for the dependent samples. By using the t – test for independent samples and by univariate analysis of variance it was tried to establish if there were any statistically significant differences between two different samples of participants. Results: The analysis of the collected data after the initial and the final isokinetic testing using the Biodex System 3 showed a positive movement in almost all tested variables for both groups of participants. There was no significant difference among the participants who were subjected to the conventional physical therapy and the participants who were subjected to the physical therapy by the whole body vibration. By analysing the results received based on the Womac questionnaire it was shown that there was an improvement of the subjective evaluation of the participants in both groups and that this difference was statistically significant. By analysing the results received based on the SF 12 questionnaire, that includes the subjective evaluation on health degree and quality of the participants, it was shown that after the completed rehabilitation there was an improvement of the subjective evaluation on health degree and quality of the participants in both groups and that this difference was statistically significant. Conclusion: The results after this research showed that, apart from the conventional physical therapy, the modified physical therapy by the whole body vibration among the female patients suffering from a mild to moderate knee osteoarthritis, can be equally effective.

knee osteoarthritis, the whole body vibration, physical therapy

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