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Investigation of Clinical Effects of High- and Low-Resistance Training for Patients With Knee Osteoarthritis: A Randomized Controlled Trial

MH Jan, PT, MS, is Associate Professor, Medical College, School and Graduate Institute of Physical Therapy, National Taiwan University, and Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, National Taiwan University Hospital
JJ Lin, PT, PhD, is Associate Professor, Medical College, School and Graduate Institute of Physical Therapy, National Taiwan University
JJ Liau, PhD, is Associate Professor, Medical College, School and Graduate Institute of Physical Therapy, National Taiwan University
YF Lin, MD, PhD, is Chairman, Department of Orthopaedics, West Garden Hospital
DH Lin, MD, is Attending Doctor, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, En Chu Kong Hospital, Taipei Hsien, Taiwan, Republic of China

Address all correspondence to Dr Lin at: david1120698{at}yahoo.com.tw

Background and Purpose: Muscle strength training is important for people with knee osteoarthritis (OA). High-resistance exercise has been demonstrated to be more beneficial than low-resistance exercise for young subjects. The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of high- and low-resistance strength training in elderly subjects with knee OA.

Subjects and Methods: One hundred two subjects were randomly assigned to groups that received 8 weeks of high-resistance exercise (HR group), 8 weeks of low-resistance exercise (LR group), or no exercise (control group). Pain, function, walking time, and muscle torque were examined before and after intervention.

Results: Significant improvement for all measures was observed in both exercise groups. There was no significant difference in any measures between HR and LR groups. However, based on effect size between exercise and control groups, the HR group improved more than the LR group.

Discussion and Conclusion: Both high- and low-resistance strength training significantly improved clinical effects in this study. The effects of high-resistance strength training appear to be larger than those of low-resistance strength training for people with mild to moderate knee OA, although the differences between the HR and LR groups were not statistically significant.