The Effect of Body Mass Index on Functional Outcome of Patients with Knee Arthroplasty with and without Hip Abductor Muscle Strengthening: Six Months follow-up of a Randomized Pilot Study

Abstract

As with aging, the prevalence of knee arthroplasty surgery has increased. Similarly, obesity has also increased parallelly. Many studies have been speculating that abductor muscle strength has more effect on the patients with knee arthroplasty when included in physiotherapy intervention, but no studies demonstrated the influence of BMI (body mass index) on the outcome compared with and without abductor muscle strengthening in physiotherapy intervention. The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of BMI on the physiotherapy interventions with and without hip abductor muscle strengthening. This randomised pilot trial was carried out at Vagdevi College of physiotherapy, Warangal. The study participants are classified for elective TKR (Total Knee Replacement) and were randomised to normal weight group and obese group.  All the group subjects underwent FIM (Functional Independent Measure) score, abductor strengthening and six minute walk test at various intervals and followed for six months. All the groups showed improvements in functional outcome irrespective of BMI indicating BMI has minimal effect on the functional outcomes following TKR. The study concludes that hip abductor groups had greater effect on knee function than the standard conventional standard physiotherapy protocol irrespective of BMI effect.