Effectiveness of Hot Foot Bath Versus Exercises on Reducing Pain among Patients with Osteoarthritis

Osteoarthritis is a global degenerative joint disease involving the cartilage and many of its surrounding tissues. In arthritis severe joint pain was reported by, at least one in seven adults with arthritis in every state. The aim of present study was to assess the effectiveness of hot foot bath versus exercises on reducing pain among patients with osteoarthritis in selected hospitals at Kanyakumari district. A quasi experimental with pre test post test with control group design was used for the study. A sample of 60 osteoarthritis patients with knee and ankle joint pain in Issac Bone & Joint Specialty hospital, Marthandam was selected by purposive sampling technique. Data were collected using a demographic and clinical variables and visual analogue pain scale from group I and group II before and after administration of hot foot bath and exercises on the first day, third day and fifth day of the treatment. The investigator prepared a information booklet andwas given to the samples on the fifth day. Analysis was done using both descriptive and inferential statistics. Results show that hot foot bath (0.52) had better effect in reduction of joint pain in the knees and ankles than exercises (1.20). There was a significant association between pretest level of pain among patients with age, duration of illness, family history of osteoarthritis, physical mobility and any associated condition present with osteoarthritis.