Published Paper Details:

Introduction: Osteoarthritis is a chronic progressive, degenerative disorder characterized by cartilage loss. It is more prevalent disease in our society. It results in cystic degeneration of bone surrounding and narrowing of joint space. Worldwide osteoarthritis is estimated to be the fourth leading cause of disability in which 10% are males and 13% are females. Patella taping was initially developed to create a mechanical medial shift to the patella, thereby centralizing it and improving patellar tracking. Muscle strengthening and aerobic exercise are effective in reducing pain and improving physical function in patients with mild to moderate OA of the knee. The aim of study compare the effectiveness of medial shift taping of patella along with ultrasound and strengthening exercises with ultrasound and strengthening exercises. Methodology: It is an experimental study of pre-test and post-test. The sampling method is Purposive random sampling and sample size is 60. These subjects with knee osteoarthritis were included and randomly assigned into 2 groups. Group - A received medial shift patella taping with ultrasound and strengthening exercise. Group B received ultrasound and strengthening exercises alone. Medial taping of patella is applied for 4 days with 3 days of rest in between. Outcome measures used are NPRS and WOMAC scale. Results: In this study, 60 patients between the age group of 50-60 years, with a history of arthritis ranging in duration from 6 months to 2 years were taken. The sample consisted of 17 females and 13 males with all subjects having unilateral symptoms. The pre-and post-test values were statistically tested using t test for their level of significance. The results in this study showed a statistically significant improvement in the taping group (p = <0.005) with 38-40% of pain reduction. Also the pain reduction in this study remained even after 3 weeks after discontinuing the therapy, thus having a carryover effect. In our study, the percentage reduction in pain was greater, that is 49.53%. Conclusion: The result showed that the experimental group was better than the control group in reduction of pain and gaining improvement in functional ability.