Effects of knee internal rotation exercises on knee adduction moment and function of elderly women with knee osteoarthritis: A randomized controlled trial

Abstract

[Purpose] The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of knee internal rotation exercises on the knee adduction moment and function of elderly women with knee osteoarthritis (OA). [Subjects] Elderly women with knee OA were enrolled and randomly allocated to either a conventional exercise group or a RRR program (knee rotation exercise) group, which performed knee rotational exercises. The final numbers of subjects were 12 in the conventional exercise group and 9 in the RRR group. [Methods] Subjects’ knee adduction moment was measured during gait and questionnaire surveys (KOOS, SF-36) were conducted before and after the 4-week intervention. [Results] The mean SF-36 score of the RRR program group showed a significantly greater improvement than that of the control group. No significant differences were observed in KOOS results or knee adduction moment, but knee adduction moment in the RRR program group tended to decrease. [Conclusion] The RRR program may be more effective at improving activity than the conventional exercise program.