New in the Literature: Exercise and Manual Therapy for Hip OA (Arch Phys Med Rehabil. 2012 Oct 16. [Epub ahead of print])
Self-reported function, hip range of motion (HROM), and patient-perceived improvement
occurred after an 8-week program of exercise therapy (ET) for patients with hip
osteoarthritis (OA), say authors of an article
published in Archives of Physical
Medicine and Rehabilitation. Manual therapy (MT) as an adjunct provided no
further benefit, except for achieving higher patient satisfaction, they add.
For this investigation, 131 patients with hip OA recruited from general
practitioners, rheumatologists, orthopedic surgeons, and other hospital
consultants in Dublin, Ireland, were randomized to 1 of 3 groups: ET (n=45),
ET+MT (n=43), and wait-list control (n=43).
Participants in both ET and ET+MT groups received up to 8 treatments over 8
weeks. Control group participants were rerandomized into either the ET or ET+MT
group after the 9 week follow-up. Their data were pooled with original
treatment group data—ET (n=66) and ET+MT (n=65).
The primary outcome was the WOMAC physical function (PF) subscale. Secondary
outcomes included physical performance, pain, HROM, anxiety/depression, quality
of life, medication usage, patient-perceived change, and patient satisfaction.
There was no significant difference in WOMAC PF between ET (n=66) and ET+MT (n=65)
groups at 9 weeks (mean difference 0.09) or at 18 weeks (mean difference 0.42),
or other outcomes, except "patient satisfaction with outcome," which was higher
in the ET+MT group. Improvements in WOMAC, HROM, and patient-perceived change
occurred in both treatment groups compared with the control group.