Effect of an 8-week hot spring water exercise program on body composition, knee isokinetic muscle function, range of motion, and the Korean Western Ontario and Mcmaster Universities index in middle-age females with osteoarthritis in Republic of Korea

Background: This study aimed to investigate the effects of applying the hot spring water exercise for 8 weeks to middle-aged females with knee osteoarthritis.Methods: To investigate this, body composition, isokinetic muscle function, and the knee flexion angle K-WOMAC were evaluated before and after the 8-week hot spring water exercise program and analyzed using a mixed-design two-way ANOVA.After analysis, if a significant difference was observed, the Bonferroni method was used as a post hoc method, and the following results were obtained.Results: First, among the body composition parameters, the body fat percentage showed a statistically significant reduction after the 8-week hot spring water exercise program in the exercise group (EG) (p = .031).However, there was no significant difference in body weight, muscle mass, body fat mass, and body mass index.Among the isokinetic muscle functions, the peak torque (p = .003,p = .001)and total work (p = .003,p = .003) of the flexion and extension movements, and the average power (p = .007) of the flexion movement significantly increased in the EG, while the average power of the extension movement did not change.The range of joint motion significantly increased after the exercise.The K-WOMAC index significantly decreased after the exercise.Conclusion: Thus, the 8-week aquatic exercise program utilizing hot springs improved knee extension and flexion muscle strength.Hence, it is believed that it can be used as an interventional therapy for low back pain in the elderly and for obese people who have difficulty with land-based exercises.