Impact of Isokinetic training on pain in patients’ with Knee osteoarthritis-A Meta-analysis

The incidence of osteoarthritis has been alarming over the years due to increase in the proportion of the aged people. Osteoarthritis has been commonly found to affect the knee joint, the most important joint in the context of weight bearing function of the lower limb. Cartilage destruction and subchondral bone erosion along with other entities affecting the entire structure of the knee are associated with osteoarthritis. Isokinetic training has been used to train athletes and to measure the function of the muscles for almost 5 decades. It has found its application in assessment and training of patients with various disorders. Osteoarthritis of knee is one such disorder where the application of the isokinetic training has been increasing over the years. There have been controversies over the effect of isokinetic training in patients with osteoarthritis of knee. Hence the magnitude of the effect of isokinetic training on functional parameters in patients with osteoarthritis of knee needs to be evaluated. A thorough online literature search was done on Web of Science, ProQuest, PubMed, Ebscohost, CINAHL between 1990 and 2014. Ten articles measuring the effect of isokinetic training on osteoarthritis of knee were included and methodologically assessed. Data from the trials were extracted based on the demographic characteristics, outcomes measured, isokinetic training protocol and the other interventions used. Standardized effect sizes with 95%confidence interval (CIs) were calculated from the preintervention and post intervention means of the isokinetic training group and other intervention group. About 10 studies were included in the review and 9 articles were analysed for reduction in pain. Isokinetic training was not so beneficial in reducing the pain associated with osteoarthritis. Since there was so much of heterogeneity among the studies the result of the analysis should be inferred with caution. Yet there is no definitive evidence to confirm the effects of isokinetic training on osteoarthritis of knee.