The purposes of this study were to compare the effects of pulsed and continuous short wave diathermy on pain, range of motion, pulse rate and skin temperature in subjects with chronic knee osteoarthritis.
24 Participants with grade 111 OA of the knee were randomly selected into CSWD and PSWD groups. Pre and post treatment parameters were recorded at onset and the end of 4th week. ANO VA, independent, paired t-test and chi-square were used to analyze the data.
The pain experienced by participants in the CSWD group was significantly lower than that of the PSWD groups (P < 0.03) after 4 weeks. Also, both active and passive knee range of motions significantly increased in the CSWD group compared to that of PSWD group (p < 0.01 and 0.002). Across the groups, there was no significant difference in the initial pulse rate at onset of treatments and at the end of 4 weeks. There was an increase in skin temperature within a range of 0.61 to 0.63°C and 0.31 to 0.35°C of participants within both the CSWD and PSWD group respectively. The skin temperature of participants who had continuous SWD was significantly higher after 4 weeks (F=8.38, p < 0.001) but the difference was insignificant within the pulse group. However, there was no significant difference in body temperatures of the 2 groups.
This study concluded that CSWD was more effective than PSWD in alleviating pain and in increasing knee flexion range of motion among subjects with chronic knee OA. Also, a mild elevation of skin temperature was able to elicit physiological effects that could exert therapeutic effects.