EFFECTS OF ELECTROMYOGRAPHIC BIOFEEDBACK ON THE PERFORMANCE OF VASTUS MEDIALIS OBLIQUE MUSCLE IN KNEE OSTEOARTHRITIS: A RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIAL

Abstract

Background: Knee osteoarthritis is a common musculoskeletal disorder, enhancing performance of Vastus Medialis Oblique (VMO) can reduce the symptoms. Objective: The study objective was to determine the effects of Electromyographic Biofeedback (EMG BF) on the performance of VMO in patients with knee osteoarthritis (OA). Methods: A Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT) was conducted at Pakistan Railway General Hospital, Rawalpindi from July to December 2019. In this study, n=30 patients with a diagnosis of knee OA were recruited with the age ranging from 50 to 65 years. The participants were randomly allocated to two groups. Group A has received isometric exercises with Electromyographic Biofeedback (EMG BF) training and Group B has received only isometric exercises for 6 weeks. The Assessments were taken at the baseline and after 6^th week of intervention. The outcome measure of vastus medialis oblique (VMO) performance was maximum voluntary isometric contraction (MVIC), measured by an EMG BF device, and one-repetition maximum (1RM)). The VMO muscle thickness was measured by musculoskeletal ultrasound. SPSS version 21 was used for data analysis. Results: The mean age of the group A was 58.94±3.1 years and of group B was 59.44±2.9 years. There was found significant between-group improvement (p<0.001) in VMO thickness and 1RM. But for MVIC between-group difference was not significant (p>0.05). Within-group analysis for all variables was statistically significant (p 0<.001) in both experimental and control groups. Conclusion: It is concluded that VMO training with an EMG BF device is more effective to enhance VMO thickness and strength in terms of 1RM in patients with knee osteoarthritis.

Keywords: Osteoarthritis, Electromyography Biofeedback, One repetition maximum