Health-related quality of life in patients with knee osteoarthritis before and after a six-week physiotherapy programme

Abstract

Background: Knee osteoarthritis patients experience a significant deterioration in their healthrelated quality of life (HR-QOL) due to pain, loss of function or mobility, and disability, which, in turn, lead to dependence. The physical symptoms can also affect additional aspects of the patients’ life, such as social relationships and mental health. In fact, the lowest HR-QOL is reported by knee osteoarthritis patients; indeed, they present low scores on every parameter of HR-QOL. Therefore, HR-QOL is a crucial issue to consider and ameliorate, especially since the osteoarthritis population here in Malta (12.5 %) continues to increase. Introduction: This present study seeks to investigate the effects of exercise therapy and advice on the HR-QOL of knee osteoarthritis patients in order to identify whether the participants experienced any improvements or benefits concerning their HR-QOL following a group intervention. Also, since currently, the Maltese physiotherapy department at Karin Grech Hospital is offering individual treatments, another purpose of this study is to learn whether a group treatment method can be used within the department. Methods: Twelve patients with a diagnosis of knee osteoarthritis were recruited to attend the class programme. Before commencing the first class, baseline measures were obtained by making use of the 36-item short-form questionnaire (SF-36). The class-based programme was made up of one session per week for an overall period of six weeks. It involved two different exercise sets and advice. Two separate classes were organised, with each group having six participants to adhere to the COVID-19 regulations. The SF-36 questionnaire was administered again on the last day of classes to obtain post-intervention measures when the full six weeks were completed by the participants. Findings and implications: The study indicates that the exercise and advice physiotherapy programme led to a significant change in the role-physical (RP) domain and the physical component summary (PCS). This effect was not mediated by gender or age. The physiotherapy profession is concerned with increasing the patients’ physical potential through movement and function, and as seen from the findings of this study, part of the patients’ HR-QOL can be directly affected positively through physical approaches.