Effects of a motor function improvement program on alleviation of knee osteoarthritis

AIM: The purposes of this study were to develop a new exercise program for the elderly with knee pain, and to evaluate the effects of the program. METHODS: The participants in the present study were 37 community-dwelling elderly people (75 ± 7 years) with knee pain who were living in Tokyo. The participants were instructed to do a walking exercise with weights attached to each ankle together with an exercise to develop their ability to recognize pain objectively, at a weekly meeting, with training on alternate days at home. The measurements of this study were: one-leg standing time, functional reach (FR), timed up and go, 5 m walking time, knee extension strength, health-related quality of life (QOL) questionnaire (SF-36) and the Japanese Knee Osteoarthritis Measure (JKOM). RESULTS: The total JKOM scores decreased significantly (p<0.01). Each subscale of the JKOM decreased significantly (p<0.05). Furthermore, knee extension strength and FR increased significantly (p<0.01). Among the SF-36 subscale scores, physical functioning, role physical, role emotional and mental health improved significantly (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: The current results suggest that the new program introduced in the present study reduces knee pain and improves the activity of participants.