EFFECTIVENESS OF DOMICILIARY PHYSIOTHERAPY IN THE HIP AND KNEE PROSTHESIS. PROSPECTIVE OBSERVATIONAL STUDY.

Abstract

 Objectives: to verify the improvement of patients with knee or hip replacement, after a period of physiotherapist treatment at home; to verify if the improvement differs in the different groups of patients according to age, sex, num-ber of sessions and the type of arthroplasty (hip or knee); to know which variable has influenced and how much it has influenced in the final condition of patients. Material and method: prospective observational pilot study that in-cluded ten patients as subjects of the Mobile Unit Physiotherapy Health Center Virgen de la Capilla, Jaén. Inclusion criteria were patients with total knee and hip who began treatment near the valuation date. The ability to perform ten basic activities of daily living was evaluated before and after the treatment by means of the Barthel Index. One had moderated the influence of sex, age, improvement, number of sessions and type of prosthesis implanted (hip/knee),in the improvement of the patient. Results: the difference between figures of initial score and final score was of 26 points according to the Barthel Index (p = 0.0002). Sex did not have statistically significant influence in the impro-vement (-25,50, 18,00) (p = 0,7012). Pathological location (prosthesis implanted –knee or hip–) did not have significant in-fluence neither (- 9,28, 30,94) (p = 0,2490). The influence of the number of sessions in the improvement was not statistically significant (p = 0,1128). The age correlated of slight form with the final score (r = -0.169) (p = 0.640).
he final score depended on the initial score (r= 0.733) (p= 0.016). Conclusions: The use of this physiotherapist treatment at home is an improvement in patients with knee or hip replacement. The variables sex, age, number of sessions and pathological location in this study do not have a statistically significant influence.