Effects of Aquatic exercises on pain, balance parameters and gait in elderly women with knee osteoarthritis

Subject Areas : Sport Sciences Quarterly

Rozita Nourbakhsh ¹ , nader rahnama ² , yahya sokhangoyei ³

1 - دانشگاه تهران
2 - Professor, Department of Sports Pathology and Corrective Movements, Faculty of Physical Education and Sport Sciences, University of Isfahan, Isfahan, Iran
3 - استادیارگروه فیزیوتراپی، دانشکده فیزیوتراپی، دانشگاه علوم بهزیستی و توانبخشی ایران، تهران، ایران

Received: 2021-07-27 Accepted : 2024-09-08 Published : 2024-09-08

Keywords: water treatment, . parameters of balance, , osteoarthritis,

Abstract :

Osteoarthritis is the most common musculoskeletal pain, causing more disability and clinical symptoms in the knee than in other joints, and according to evidence around the world, it is a major health problem. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the effect of a period of exercise in water on pain intensity, balance parameters and gait in elderly women with osteoarthritis of the knee. Thirty elderly women with osteoarthritis of the knee were randomly selected as subjects and divided into experimental (n = 15) and control (n = 15) groups. The ocular pain scale (VAS) of Romberg test and BESS balance error assessment were used to collect data. The samples performed a water exercise program for 8 weeks under the supervision of a hydrotherapy instructor. Independent and dependent t-test were used to analyze the data. Results showed significant improvement in pain intensity, static balance and dynamic water balance after treatment (P <0.05). The results showed that water exercise program can be considered as a safe and effective training method to improve pain, static and dynamic balance in elderly women with osteoarthritis of the knee.