[Physiotherapy in osteoarthritis--a review of literature on conservative therapy of knee and hip osteoarthritis]

Abstract

In this review, 18 studies have been evaluated about the effectiveness of exercise therapy in the physiotherapy in osteoarthritis of hip or knee. All studies emphasised the general profit of exercise therapy compared to alternative programs (such as "health education", etc.). The effect sizes were mostly indicated to be moderate to large. There were no study comparing two or more alternative exercise programs in regard to the size of effectiveness. Only two studies gave informations about the radiographic grade of the OA. Today the effectiveness is proved only for aerobic, dynamic strengthening exercises. There were no study about the effectiveness of physiotherapy in Hip-OA.