Effects of Muscle Electric Stimulation on Chronic Knee Pain, Activities of Daily Living, and Living Satisfaction for Korean Elderly Women

PURPOSE: This study was to examine effects of muscle electric stimulation on chronic knee pain, activities of daily living, and living satisfaction for Korean elderly women. METHODS: The design was a nonequivalent control group pretest-posttest study. Subjects were 60 (experimental: 30, control: 30) elderly women 65 years old or above with good orientation and communication. The experimental treatment was electric stimulation on both thigh quadriceps muscles for 15 minutes per time, 3 times per week, for a total of 12 weeks. Measures were the S-F McGill Pain Questionnaire and Arthritis Impact Measurement Scale for chronic knee pain, activities measurement of daily living for activities of daily living, and living satisfaction measurement for living satisfaction. Data was analyzed through the SPSS Win 12.0. RESULTS: Chronic knee pain by S-F MPQ (t=43.563, p=.000) and chronic knee pain by AIMS (t=31.364, p=.000) were significantly decreased in the experimental group, and the activities of daily living (t=124.353, p=.000) and living satisfaction (t=71.268, p=.000) were significantly increased in the experimental group for Korean elderly women. CONCLUSION: Muscle electrical stimulation decreased chronic knee pain, and increased the activities of daily living and living satisfaction for Korean elderly women. Further studies for muscle electric stimulation need to be done.