Effect of Neuromuscular Control on Pain among Patients with Osteoarthritis in Indonesia: Quasi-Experiment

Objective: to analyse neuromuscular control's effect on pain among osteoarthritis patients. Methods: A quasi-experimental study with a pre-posttest control group design of 88 respondents. Respondents with knee osteoarthritis, stages II and III underwent an initial rehab medical program and were included in the study. Respondents were randomised into two groups. The first group consisted of 44 respondents who carried out neuromuscular control exercises and analgesic drug therapy; the second group of 44 respondents only took analgesic medication. The intervention was given for 1 month, where every day it was carried out 3 times in the morning, afternoon and evening and pain was measured before and after the procedure using the Numeric Rating Scale measuring instrument. The analysis was conducted using the Wilcoxon test. Results: Using the Wilcoxon test in the control group, the p-value = 0.01, while in the intervention group with a value of p < 0.00All groups experienced a significant decrease in pain scale, particularly in the intervention group compared to the control group, where the control group yielded a value of p<0.01, while in the intervention group, it was p<0.00. From these results, it can be concluded that neuromuscular control exercises are effective in reducing pain intensity in grade 1 to 3 knee osteoarthritis. Conclusion: It can be concluded that neuromuscular control exercises are effective in reducing pain intensity in osteoarthritis genu grades 1 to 3. Neuromuscular control exercises can be recommended as an independent therapy in reducing the pain intensity of knee osteoarthritis.