There is a lot of evidence supporting what physiotherapists do with their work. This, and our knowledge of exercise, is what seperates us as physiotherapists from other professions that do not have a substantial evidence base supporting what they do.
Today, we are looking at some recent evidence for hip arthritis and what some of the best treatment options are prior to going down the path of surgery!
Study 1: Effects of exercise and manual therapy on pain associated with hip osteoarthritis: a systematic review and meta-analysis (Beumer et al., 2018)
- Short-term benefits favouring water-based and land-based exercise over minimal control with both therapies reducing pain
- Pain is managed better with either water- or land-based exercise therapy
Study 2: Exercise for osteoarthritis of the hip (Fransen et al. 2014)
Systematic review (highest quality evidence as it is a review of all relevent evidence)
- land-based exercise reduces pain and improves physical function immediately after treatment when compared to no exercise control
- there are also few side effects
- improvements are maintained 3-6 months after exercise therapy, but improved with ongoing exercise treatment
Study 3: Immediate efficacy of neuromuscular exercise in patients with severe osteoarthritis of the hip or knee: a secondary analysis from a randomized controlled trial (Villadsen et al. 2014)
Randomised controlled trial (best trial to run as an independant research task)
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Care-as-usual + 8 week exercise intervention | vs | education package alone with no exercise |
- twice weekly, 60 minute exercise session with physiotherapist
- a significant improvement in activities of daily living and disability and injury for hip osteoarthritis when participants completed an 8 week neuromuscular exercise program compared to the no exercise control group
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Take home message
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