A COMPARATIVE RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIAL STUDY:THE EFFICACY OF COURT – TYPE THAI TRADITIONAL MASSAGE VERSUS DICLOFENAC ON KNEE PAIN AMONG PATIENTS WITH OSTEOARTHRITIS

Abstract

PIYAPORN SANSILA: A COMPARATIVE RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIAL STUDY : THE EFFICACY OF COURT – TYPE THAI TRADITIONAL MASSAGE VERSUS DICLOFENAC ON KNEE PAIN AMONG PATIENTS WITH OSTEOARTHRITIS) ADVISOR: ASSOC. PROF. NIJSIRI RUANGRUNGSI, Ph.D., CO-ADVISOR: ASSOC. PROF Dr.Wichai Eungpinichpong , Ph.D 125 pp.

The court-type Thai traditional massage is one of Thai traditional massage for the relief of knee pain. Diclofenac, one of the current treatments, is also used for the relief of knee pain caused by the Osteoarthritis of the knee and joints. No previous study using blinded randomized controlled trial to compare the efficacy between the two treatments. The objective of this research was to assess the efficiency of court-type Thai traditional massage versus Diclofenac on knee pain among patients with Osteoarthritis. Methods: This experimental research, a clinical randomized controlled trial study, was conducted in the Thai traditional health care center at Phon Hospital, Phon District, Khon Kaen Province. The participants were patients aged 50-65 years old, diagnosed by orthopedic physician that having knee osteoarthritis. Then a standardized criteria were used in participant selection. The participants were randomized into two groups: a control group (30 patients) and an experimental group (30 patients). The control patients were treated with Diclofenac 25 mg 1 x 3 pc, taking one tablet, three times a day after meals for 12 weeks. The experimental patients were treated by the court-type Thai traditional massage once a week for 12 weeks. Knee pain and function were assessed veery week which included Visual Analog Scale (VAS), range of motion, index of severity for osteoarthritis of the knee (ISOA), modified WOMAC scale and Time Up-and-Go test (TUG). ANOVA was applied for statistical analysis. Results: there were no differences in age and physical index between the two groups. The results indicated that the knee pain of the patients treated by the court-type Thai traditional massage was substantially reduced with a little more changes than those of the diclofenac treatment (VAS of pre-treatment: 6.13 ± 0.78 and 5.98 ± 0.73; VAS of post-treatment: 2.62 ± 0.50 and 2.63 ± 0.58 respectively). Similar pattern of improvement was found for other outcome measures where those treated by the court-type Thai traditional massage yield a little more beneficial effects than those of the diclofenac treatment. Conclusion: Both the court-type Thai traditional massage and Diclofenac enable the patients to reduce the knee pain. This study asserts that the court-type Thai traditional massage is one of the effectively practical alternative treatments for knee osteoarthritis patients.