A critical appraisal of "Managing knee osteoarthritis with yoga or aerobic/strengthening exercise programs in older adults: a pilot randomized controlled trial"
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The study completed and outlined in this article was designed to see how three different treatment plans could impact the physical and psychological symptoms of knee osteoarthritis in older adults, as well as adherence to the assigned program. The three treatments applied include: hatha yoga, aerobic/strengthening exercise program, and an education program. These subjects were randomly placed in difference groups, either participating in hatha yoga or aerobic/strength exercise for 8 weekly sessions as well as 2-4 at home sessions. Each of the treatments were either designed or approved by an osteoarthritis specialist, and administered by professionals before the subject carried out the programs in their own homes to ensure the subjects did not injure themselves or elicit any pain. The treatments lasted 8 weeks and the primary outcome measures tested were physical function, pain, and stiffness. Secondary outcome measures were more functional (sit to stand, balance, and walking tests) and psychological (anxiety, depression, and fear of falling). The results showed that the yoga group had greater symptom improvement, higher perceived function than the other group, took less time to complete the repeated sit to stand at the conclusion of the study, and had lower anxiety and less fear of falling as compared to the aerobic/strength exercise group.