EFFECTS OF ELECTROMYOGRAPHIC BIOFEEDBACK ON THE PERFORMANCE OF VASTUS MEDIALIS OBLIQUE MUSCLE IN KNEE OSTEOARTHRITIS: A RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIAL

Background: Knee osteoarthritis is a common musculoskeletal disorder, enhancing performance of Vastus Medialis Oblique (VMO) can reduce the symptoms. Objective: The study objective was to determine the effects of Electromyographic Biofeedback (EMG BF) on the performance of VMO in patients with knee osteoarthritis (OA). Methods: A Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT) was conducted at Pakistan Railway General Hospital, Rawalpindi from July to December 2019. In this study, n=30 patients with a diagnosis of knee OA were recruited with the age ranging from 50 to 65 years. The participants were randomly allocated to two groups. Group A has received isometric exercises with Electromyographic Biofeedback (EMG BF) training and Group B has received only isometric exercises for 6 weeks. The Assessments were taken at the baseline and after 6th week of intervention. The outcome measure of vastus medialis oblique (VMO) performance was maximum voluntary isometric contraction (MVIC), measured by an EMG BF device, and one-repetition maximum (1RM)). The VMO muscle thickness was measured by musculoskeletal ultrasound. SPSS version 21 was used for data analysis. Results: The mean age of the group A was 58.94±3.1 years and of group B was 59.44±2.9 years. There was found significant between-group improvement (p<0.001) in VMO thickness and 1RM. But for MVIC between-group difference was not significant (p>0.05). Within-group analysis for all variables was statistically significant (p 0<.001) in both experimental and control groups. Conclusion: It is concluded that VMO training with an EMG BF device is more effective to enhance VMO thickness and strength in terms of 1RM in patients with knee osteoarthritis. Keywords: Osteoarthritis, Electromyography Biofeedback, One repetition maximum