To study effectiveness of progressive relaxation on balancing exercises in functional outcome of osteoarthritis knee in postmenopausal females

Abstract

Background: Postmenopausal females with osteoarthritis (OA) of knee joint often report episodes of knee instability limiting their daily activities and this causes an added stress. Aims: To evaluate the effects of progressive muscle relaxation (PMR) on balancing exercises to improve functional ability in postmenopausal females with OA of knee. Materials and Methods: This interventional study was conducted on 60 postmenopausal females in a tertiary care hospital of Eastern India after taking Institutional Ethical Clearance and informed consent of the subjects. Perceived stress scores of the subjects were assessed. Patients were randomly allocated into two groups and they received either balancing exercises and PMR (Group A) or balancing exercises (Group B). Both of the groups received transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation and treatment was given for 4 days a week for 4 weeks. The outcome measures were Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) and the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC) scores. Results: After 4 weeks of treatment, significant reduction in the WOMAC score and VAS was found in both Groups. The results showed that improvement was more in Group A than Group B. Perceived stress scores significantly decreased in Group A (27.8 ± 1.95 vs. 20.16 ± 3.33; P < 0.000**) but the change was not significant in Group B (28.2 ± 1.4 vs. 27.46 ± 1.45; P value: 0.53). Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) was positively correlated with WOMAC and VAS scores at R value of 0.68 and 0.81, respectively. Conclusion: The results of the study indicates that balancing exercise when practiced along with stress relaxation exercises is more effective in improving the functional ability of OA knee.