Efetividade da fisioterapia aquática na intensidade da dor, aptidão funcional e qualidade de vida em idosos com osteoartrite de joelho: ensaio clínico controlado aleatório

Abstract

Aquatic physiotherapy promotes short-term benefits for patients with osteoarthritis of the knee, and may be the first therapeutic option for the older people with this pathological condition. The objective of the study was to investigate the effects of an aquatic physical therapy program on pain intensity, functional fitness and quality of life in older people with osteoarthritis of the knee. This is a randomized, parallel, two-arm, open-label clinical trial with older people with osteoarthritis of the knee. The volunteers were allocated to: aquatic group (GA; n = 18), who were submitted to the intervention and control group (CG; n = 15), who were not submitted to any type of intervention. Data collection consisted of the assessment of pain perception through the visual analogue scale with nociceptive stimulus application in four anatomical points of the knee, Timed Up And Go test, WHOQOL-bref and WOMAC questionnaires, in the pre- and post-intervention moments . The flexibility test was performed in three moments: pre (M1), in the eighth week (M2) and post-intervention (M3). The program lasted 12 weeks, with a frequency of three times weekly, 40 minutes per session, water temperature maintained at 33°C and consisting of aerobic and functional exercises in the form of training circuit. There was an increase in flexibility from 18.0 ± 9.13 cm to 22.08 ± 8.09 cm in the comparison of M1 to M2 and to 22.78 ± 7.87 cm in the comparison of M1 to M3. Improvement of the dynamic balance from 10.70 s (5.90-15.10) to 10.0 s (5.30-13.0). Reduction of pain domain from 41.83 ± 15.55 to 29.16 ± 14.77 and improvement of physical function from 40.43 ± 13.59 to 32.41 ± 11.54 from WOMAC. Improvement of the WHOQOL - bref environmental domain from 61.23 ± 18.16 to 70.11 ± 11.08 in GA. It was concluded that aquatic physiotherapy promoted reduction of chronic pain intensity, improvement of functional fitness and quality of life in older people with osteoarthritis of the knee