1Department of Occupational Therapy, Swami Vivekananda National Institute of Rehabilitation Training and Research (SVNIRTAR), Olatpur, Bairoi, Cuttack
2Associate Professor, Department of Rheumatology, Kalinga Institute of Medical Sciences, KIIT University, Bhubaneswar
3Lecturer, Occupational Therapy, Department of Occupational Therapy, Swami Vivekananda National Institute of Rehabilitation Training and Research (SVNIRTAR), Olatpur, Bairoi, Cuttack, Odisha, India
*Corresponding Author: Dr. Prasanta Padhan Associate Professor, Department of Rheumatology, Kalinga Institute of Medical Sciences, KIIT University, Bhubaneswar-751024, Odisha, India Phone: 9778940630 Email: prasanta.padhan@gmail.com
Online published on 21 July, 2018.
Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) is an autoimmune, inflammatory disease that causes progressive destruction in the joints with the hands and wrists being the most frequent actively involved joint. Hand involvement significantly affects daily living activities in RA with decreased mobility. Aim of the study was to compare the effect of Proprioceptive retraining (PRT) technique over home exercise (HE) program on hand functions in RA.
After obtaining written informed consent, forty patients with rheumatoid arthritis for more than one year duration fulfilling the inclusion criteria were randomly assigned to two groups with 20 subjects each. One group received proprioceptive retraining and the other group received the home exercise programme for 8 weeks.
Data was analyzed using SPSS version 21.0 software. the hand functions in the PRt group improved significantly as compared to the HE group. Patients under both the programs showed significant improvement of hand functions after 8 weeks of intervention.
The proprioceptive retraining technique is more effective than home exercise programme in improving hand functions in RA patients.
Rheumatoid arthritis, proprioceptive retraining, Hand function, Home exercise, ADL
