RESPONSIVENESS OF PAIN AND SYMPTOM’S ITEMS OF KNEE INJURY AND OSTEOARTHRITIS OUTCOME SCORE (KOOS) TO THE AQUATIC EXER

Abstract

Background: Pain is the main symptom of Knee Osteoarthritis (KOA) and aquatic exercise has been indicated as an effective non-pharmacological treatment for KOA symptoms. In general, KOA pain is assessed by simple scales or by multicomponent self-reported questionnaires, mainly the Knee Injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS) and WOMAC Osteoarthritis Index. Some studies had reported the effectiveness of aquatic exercise on KOOS pain dimension but not on each pain item.Objectives: This study aimed to investigate how pain items of KOOS questionnaire are affected by 3 months’ aquatic exercise program for overweight and obese individuals with KOA (PICO).Method: Eligibility criteria were 40 ≤ age ≤ 65 years; BMI ≥ 28kg/m²; clinical and radiographic KOA. Participants were randomized in aquatic exercise group (AEG) and control group (CG). Pain was assessed by KOOS. Descriptive statistics and Univariate Analyses of Covariance (ANCOVA) were used as primary analyses.Results: Final sample included 48 adults (BMI: 35.0±4.9 kg/m², age: 55±7 years), 23 in the CG and 25 in AEG. Table 1 presents ANCOVA analysis for each item of Pain dimension of KOOS. Significant group effect was found in all pain items (p <.05), except for pain frequency (P1) and pain on bending knee fully (P4). Better group effect was found in the item pain on walking (P5) (p <.001).Conclusions: PICO aquatic program was effective in improving knee pain in seven of nine activities in individuals with KOA.