A retrospective evaluation of a knee rehabilitation class following evidence-based modifications

Knee pain is a common musculoskeletal disorder and contributes a large socio-economic burden to health systems around the world. The traditional strategy to manage knee pain has been exercise. However, there is growing recognition to include coping and self-management educational strategies to improve psychosocial outcomes. Purpose: The purpose of this evaluation was to compare the effectiveness of a revised knee rehabilitation class that incorporated an evidence-based educational component (2021-22) to the previous knee rehabilitation class that did not incorporated an evidence-based educational component (2020–21) by comparing pre-class and post-class outcome measurement scores. Method: A retrospective evaluation of the knee rehabilitation classes at an NHS Trust in North London, United Kingdom was conducted using the Knee Injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS) and Lower Extremity Functional Scale (LEFS) from two cohorts of participants from 2020-21 and 2021-22. Data from the two classes were analysed separately and then compared. Satisfaction scores were captured using a questionnaire which participants completed at the end of each class. Data were analysed using the Statistical Software for Excel (XLSTAT) package. Results: A total of 46 and 52 patients attended the 2020-21 and 2021-22 classes respectively. Both classes showed significant improvements in KOOS and LEFS when analysed separately, but no significant difference when compared. The 2020-21 class had a mean satisfaction score of 87.2%, and the 2021-22 class had a mean satisfaction score of 91.7%. Conclusion: The addition of an evidence-based educational component incorporating coping and self-management strategies in a knee rehabilitation class showed improvement in outcome measurement scores but cannot be considered superior to a class which consisted of an exercise component only.