Effects of Two Aquatic Exercise Programs on Pain, Kinesiophobia, and Mood in Older Women With Knee Osteoarthritis: A Semi Experimental Research

Objectives Osteoarthritis is the most common musculoskeletal disease in old age, which has a negative effect on psychological health and reduces the quality of life and life expectancy. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of two aquatic exercise programs (with Theraband or based on the National Academy of Sports Medicine [NASM] approach) on pain, kinesiophobia, and mood in older women with knee osteoarthritis (KO). Methods & Materials In this quasi-experimental study with a pre-test/post-test design, 45 older women with KO were selected by a purposive sampling method and were divided into three groups: Aquatic exercise with Theraband (n=15), aquatic exercise with the NASM approach (n=15), and control (n=15). The exercise programs were performed for eight weeks, three sessions per week, each for 60 minutes. The visual analog scale (VAS), Tampa scale of kinesiophobia (TSK), and the Brunel mood scale (BRUMS) were used to measure the study variables. To analyze the data, MANCOVA and Bonferroni’s post hoc test were conducted in SPSS software, version 26, considering a significance level of P≤0.05. Results The mean age, height, weight, and BMI were 66.2±4.11 years, 160.6±4.64 cm, 74.3±8.39 kg, and 29.04±13.56 kg/m2, respectively. The results showed that pain (F=313.71, P=0.002), kinesiophobia (F=271.84, P=0.001), and mood (F=49.66, P=0.001) improved significantly in both exercise groups compared to the control group. No significant difference was observed between the two exercise groups in these variables (P≥0.05). Conclusion Aquatic exercises with Theraband or based on the NASM approach have positive effects on pain, kinesiophobia, and mood of older women with KO. Therefore, these exercise methods are recommended as a suitable prevention and treatment method for these women.