Effect of clinic-based and telemonitored home-based intervention on pain intensity, functioning and quality of life in patients with knee osteoarthritis

Introduction and aim. The study assessed and compared the effects of clinic-based and telemonitored home-based interventions on pain intensity, functioning and quality of life in patients with knee osteoarthritis (KOA). Material and methods. Forty-two patients were recruited purposely and randomly allocated into clinic-based (CBG) and telemonitored home-based group (THG) equally. The CBG and THG received isometric exercises to strengthen the quadriceps and hamstring muscles using theraband. THG received the exercise at home they were monitored on phone thrice in a week, while the CBG did the exercise in the hospital. The subjects performed four sets of eight repetitions three days in a week for eight weeks. Pain intensity, functioning and health related quality of life (HRQoL) were assessed at pretreatment, 6th and 8th week of intervention. Data was analyzed with descriptive and inferential statistics. Alpha level was set at 0.05. Results. There was a significant reduction (p<0.001) among pre-treatment, 6th and 8th week intervention in pain intensity, functional pain intensity and quality of life of CBG and THG. CBG showed significant reduction (p<0.001) in pain intensity, function and increase in HRQoL than THG at 8th week. Conclusion. Clinic-based and telemonitored home-based interventions were both effective in the management of KOA but clinic-based intervention was better than telemonitored home-based intervention.