title: Effectiveness of an elastic knee sleeve for patients with knee osteoarthritis: a randomized single-blinded controlled trial.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To study the effectiveness of elastic sleeves in patients with knee osteoarthritis (knee OA).
  
  
  METHODS
  Patients with knee OA attending the outpatient clinic of Siriraj Hospital, who met the eligibility criteria, were randomly allocated to receive an 8-week treatment protocol. The control group received acetaminophen, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and education. The study group received the same treatment, in combination with a daytime elastic knee sleeve. Primary outcome variable included change in aggregated functional performance time (AFPT).
  
  
  RESULTS
  In the immediate period after treatment, the study group had a mean improvement in AFPT of 1.63 seconds more than the control group (95% CI: 0.21-3.05, p = 0.025). At the end of the 8th week, the changes of AFPT were not statistically different between the two groups.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study shows small short-term beneficial effects of an elastic sleeve in patients with knee OA in cases with acute exacerbation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Faculty of Medicine Siriraj Hospital, Mahidol University, Bangkok 10700, Thailand.
authors.forename: Kingkaew
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Pajareya
authors.forename: Navaporn
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Chadchavalpanichaya
authors.forename: Suteerat
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Timdang
mesh_terms: D001458:Bandages; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D020370:Osteoarthritis, Knee / Q000628:therapy*; D016037:Single-Blind Method; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D013785:Thailand; D016896:Treatment Outcome