Comparing the Effects of Corticosteroid Injections and Resistance Exercise on Knee Osteoarthritis Patients: A Systematic Review.

PURPOSE: To evaluate research on the effectiveness of intra-articular corticosteroids injections compared with resistance exercise on pain, stiffness, and function among patients diagnosed with knee osteoarthritis. METHODS: Using the PRISMA guidelines, the authors performed a systematic review of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) in PubMed and EBSCOhost published between January 2012 and October 2022. The authors used keywords to identify studies. After screening the abstracts, reviewers used two screening tools to evaluate for validity and strength of each RCT. Full text of selected articles was critically appraised and narrative analysis was performed. The outcome used to determine effectiveness of the interventions was the Western Ontario McMaster University Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC). RESULTS: Of the 69,056 articles identified during the preliminary search, 8 met the inclusion criteria for use in the study. Three studies involved resistance exercise, and 5 studies involved corticosteroids. Of the 3 resistance studies, 2 had significant changes in WOMAC scores. Of the 5 studies on corticosteroid injections, 4 had significant changes in WOMAC scores. CONCLUSION: Evidence from this review suggests that there is a significant improvement in WOMAC scores for both intervention groups. Although an analysis of research evidence suggests that there is no superior treatment for knee osteoarthritis between corticosteroid injections and resistance exercise, it is important to consider contextual and environmental factors before recommending either treatment.

Mandatory COVID Vaccination: Perspectives from Graduate Allied Health Students at a Mid-size University in the United States.

Because many students enrolled in Allied Health programs are on track to becoming health practitioners or clinicians and frontline workers who would become critical sources of information for patients it is critical to understand their perspectives about mandatory COVID-19 vaccination. Results: COVID-19 Risk Perception. A significant majority of the respondents had high or strongly high-risk perception of COVID-19, 82(56.6%) strongly agreed and 29(20%) agreed with the statement, COVID-19 is a public health issue (P-value < 0.0001), Comparing by demographic characteristics: African American/Black compared with other races (P-Value = 0.0462), Master of Public Health program, compared with all other graduate programs (P-Value = 0.0140) and fully vaccinated and fully vaccinated and boosted compared with incomplete or not-vaccinated for COVID-19 (P-value = 0.0059) had higher COVID-19 risk perceptions. strongly high-risk perception of COVID-19, 82(56.6%) strongly agreed and 29(20%) agreed with the statement, COVID-19 is a public health issue (P-value < 0.0001), Comparing by demographic characteristics: African American/Black compared with other races (P-Value = 0.0462), Master of Public Health program, compared with all other graduate programs (P-Value = 0.0140) and fully vaccinated and fully vaccinated and boosted compared with incomplete or not-vaccinated for COVID-19 (P-value = 0.0059) had higher COVID-19 risk perceptions.