title: The frequency of visits by the physiotherapist of patients receiving home-based exercise therapy for knee osteoarthritis.
abstract: Although home-based physiotherapy (PT) has an important role in the management of knee osteoarthritis (OA), the optimal frequency of monitoring by the physiotherapist is not known. Ninety-six patients with bilateral Kellgren Lawrence grade 3 OA were divided into two groups. All patients received the same PT program but group 1 was monitored at 1, 2, 3, 6, 12 and 24 weeks, while group 2 was seen at 3 and 24 weeks. At the end of the study, both groups had improved their Hospital for Special Surgery score (P<0.05), and there was no statistically significant difference between the groups. We conclude that the frequency of visits for a home-based exercise program can be decreased without affecting the success of the therapy.
authors.affiliation: School of Physical Therapy, Dokuz Eylül University, Izmir, Turkey. aysesen1@hotmail.com
authors.forename: Ayse
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sen
authors.forename: Zeliha
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Gocen
authors.forename: Bayram
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Unver
authors.forename: Vasfi
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Karatosun
authors.forename: Izge
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Gunal
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006699:Home Care Services; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D020370:Osteoarthritis, Knee / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D010044:Outpatient Clinics, Hospital; D026741:Physical Therapy Modalities; D016896:Treatment Outcome