Abstract
AbstractObjective The objective of this review was to evaluate the evidence of the influence of therapeutic modalities on postural balance in patients with knee osteoarthritis (OA).Methods A search for published papers on therapeutic modalities was conducted using the Pubmed, Medline, Lilacs and SciELO databases. The keywords “knee” and “balance” in combination with “osteoarthritis” were used as the search strategy. Randomized controlled clinical trials published in the last 10 years in either English or Portuguese were selected. The PEDro scale was applied to assess the quality of the selected clinical trials.Results A total of 46 studies of patients with knee OA were found, of which seven were analyzed in full and 39 were excluded because they did not meet the inclusion criteria. Of the seven studies reviewed, six were considered to have a high methodological quality on the PEDro scale. Several therapeutic modalities were found (physical exercise, hydrotherapy, electrotherapy and manual therapy), and postural balance improved in only three studies.Conclusion The studies included in this systematic review had a high methodological quality, so it can be concluded that the therapeutic modalities used in those studies improved postural balance in patients with knee OA.
Highlights
The World Health Organization indicates that knee osteoarthritis (OA) is likely to become the leading cause of disability worldwide, and it is currently the fourth-highest cause in women and the eighth in men [1]
The analysis of the selected studies showed that a variety of therapeutic modalities are used in physiotherapeutic clinical practice to improve postural balance in patients with knee OA
Three studies reported an improvement in balance in patients with knee OA: Tok et al [14], Bennel et al [55] and Lund et al [16]
Summary
The World Health Organization indicates that knee osteoarthritis (OA) is likely to become the leading cause of disability worldwide, and it is currently the fourth-highest cause in women and the eighth in men [1]. Physical exercise is a non-pharmacological intervention for knee OA recommended by the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) and the European League Against Rheumatism [12, 13] This intervention aims to prevent muscle atrophy, increase muscle strength and resistance and maintain the range of motion of the knee joint to provide greater functional independence [14]. Other therapeutic resources (electrotherapy, hydrotherapy, manual therapy, massage) have been applied for the treatment of patients with knee OA to reduce the risk of falls and pain and to improve physical function, functional capacity, the strength of knee extensors and hip abductors, range of motion, quality of life and postural balance [14,15,16,17]. Given that postural balance is one of the factors responsible for falls and functional limitations in patients with OA, the objective of this review is to assess the clinical and scientific evidence of the influence of therapeutic modalities on postural balance in patients with knee OA
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