Effects of Strengthening and Aerobic Exercises on Pain Severity and Function in Patients with Knee Rheumatoid Arthritis

Background: the purpose of this study was to investigate theeffects of two types of rehabilitation techniques, including aerobicand strengthening exercises on patients with knee rheumatoidarthritis (ra).methods: 48 male patients with knee ra were randomly assignedinto 3 groups, including aerobic exercises, strengthening exercise,and control. the two first groups completed their treatment protocolfor 8 weeks, 3 days per week. visual analogue scale, womacquestionnaire, 6?minute walking test, standard goniometer wereused to assess pain severity, functional ability, walking ability, kneejoint rom respectively at baseline and after applying therapeuticinterventions. the data were analyzed using one?way analysis ofvariance (anova) at p < 0.05 significant level.results: participants had a mean ± sd age of 58.6 ± 7.8 years(height 1.72 ± 0.07 m, weight 81.0 ± 6.4 kg) with no significantdifference between three groups. both therapeutic interventionsreduced pain significantly (p < 0.001) compared to the controlgroup, without significant difference between the two experimentalgroups. the patients fulfilled aerobic exercise attained higherlevels of function and walking ability compared to strengtheninggroup significantly (p < 0.001). the knee range of motion (rom)wassignificantly (p < 0.001) improved in the two experimentalgroups in comparison to controls, the strengthening group hadmore significant (p < 0.001) improvement.conclusions: it can be concluded that an aerobic exercise programimproves functional and walking ability in patients with knee ra, andstrengthening exercise has more efficient effect on knee rom, bothaerobic and strengthening exercises can equally relieve pain.