Efficacy of Knee Taping in addition to a Supervised Exercise Protocol to Manage Pain and Functional Status in Individuals with Patellofemoral Osteoarthritis: A Randomized, Controlled Clinical Trial.

Purpose: This study aimed to investigate the effect of knee taping in addition to a supervised exercise protocol on the pain intensity and functional status of individuals with patellofemoral osteoarthritis (PF OA). Methods: The study was based on a randomized, controlled pretest-posttest experimental group design. Following an initial screening, forty people with PF OA (mean age 55, range 40-60) were randomly assigned to one of two groups, Group A or Group B (n = 20 each). Group A underwent knee taping and participated in a supervised exercise program, whereas Group B only participated in a supervised exercise program. For four weeks, both groups received their prescribed treatment five consecutive days each week. At baseline (day 1 preintervention) and 4 weeks postintervention, the visual analog scale (VAS) and the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC) scores were obtained. To compare the effect of stipulated interventions within and between groups, paired and unpaired t tests were performed, with the level of significance set at p < 0.05. Results: When comparing the outcome scores at 4 weeks postintervention with baseline scores, the within-group analysis revealed significant mean differences for the outcomes within groups A (VAS: MD = -3.08-0.76; T = 9.70; p < 0.05 and WOMAC: MD = -7.05-0.81; T = 11.11; p < 0.05) and B (WOMAC: MD = -1.6-0.17; T = 2.35; p < 0.05), but a nonsignificant mean difference for the outcomes of VAS within group B (∆MD = 0.08 ± 0.03; T = -0.56; p > 0.05). Similarly, when the score of VAS (MD = -2.73-1.29; T = -9.17; p < 0.05) and WOMAC (MD = -5.95-1.63; T = -5.86; p < 0.05) were compared at 4 weeks postintervention, there was a significant mean difference between groups A and B. Conclusions: In people with patellofemoral osteoarthritis, combining knee taping with a supervised exercise protocol was more effective than the supervised exercise protocol alone in relieving pain and enhancing functional status.

Efficacy of Specified Manual Therapies in Combination with a Supervised Exercise Protocol for Managing Pain Intensity and Functional Disability in Patients with Knee Osteoarthritis.

PURPOSE: The current study aimed to determine the efficacy of specified manual therapies in combination with a supervised exercise protocol for managing pain intensity and functional disability in patients with knee osteoarthritis. METHODS: The study was based on a two-arm parallel-group randomized controlled trial design, including a total of 32 participants with knee osteoarthritis randomly divided into groups A and B. Group A received a supervised exercise protocol; however, group B received specified manual therapies in combination with a supervised exercise protocol. Pain and functional disability were measured with the numeric pain rating scale (NPRS) and the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC), respectively. Data were collected at baseline (pre-intervention), 2 weeks, and 4 weeks post-intervention. To evaluate the efficacy of specific manual therapies with supervised exercise compared to supervised exercise alone, an unpaired t-test and repeated measures ANOVA were used to analyze the data, keeping the level of significance at p<0.05. RESULTS: A significant (p<0.05) mean difference (∆MD) was found within group A and group B for both outcomes when we compared their baseline scores with 2-week (group A, NPRS: ∆MD=-1.56 and WOMAC: ∆MD=14.94; group B, NPRS: ∆MD=2.06 and WOMAC: ∆MD=22.19) and 4-week post-intervention scores (group A, NPRS: ∆MD=0.62 and WOMAC: ∆MD=6.75; group B, NPRS: ∆MD=0.75 and WOMAC: ∆MD=11.12). In addition, significant mean differences (p<0.05) reported for both outcomes when we compared their scores between groups A and B at 2 weeks (∆MD: NPRS=0.69; WOMAC=10.87) and 4 weeks post-intervention (∆MD: NPRS=0.31; WOMAC=8.00). Furthermore, a post hoc Scheffe analysis for the outcomes NPRS and WOMAC revealed the superiority of group B over group A. CONCLUSION: The specified manual therapies, in combination with a supervised exercise protocol, were found to be more effective than a supervised exercise protocol alone for improving pain and functional disability in patients with knee osteoarthritis.