To evaluate the effectiveness of a specific physical therapy treatment on stiffness, pain and quality of life (HRQL) in rheumatic patients.
Experimental, prospective, longitudinal and intervention study. It involved 29 individuals with a mean age (SD) of 54.16 (11,9) years, belonging to the Salmantina Association of Rheumatoid Arthritis Patients, randomized into 2 groups: treatment (GT) and control (GC). The study analyzed the time in minutes of morning stiffness, pain -using the Downie Scale- and CVRS through the Nottingham Health Profile (NHP) and the Health Questionnaire SF-36 (SF-36). It carries out an individual treatment that includes mainly physiotherapy manual techniques in one or two sessions per week for six months.
The time of early morning stiffness showed a mean (SD) 21.38 (29.99) minutes (GC=20,38, GT=22.19), increasing in GC (26.82) and decreasing in GT (12,5). Pain presented at the beginning a mean (SD) 3.6 (2.03) points (GC=2,85, GT=4.22) decreasing in GT (3.68) and increasing in GC (3.45). There was an improvement of CVRS in the GT with decreased scores on four dimensions of NHP (pain, sleep, physical mobility and emotional reactions) and increases in SF-36 (physical problems, social function, pain, function physics). In any case the results were statistically significant.
The study cannot conclude the effectiveness of physiotherapy in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis although the results show a decrease of morning stiffness and pain and increased CVRS, which is clinically interesting.