Management of Patients With Concurrent Hypertension and Osteoarthritis of the Knee: Comparative Effect of Using Non Steroidal Anti Inflammatory Drugs and Physical Therapy

Non steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are commonly used in managing osteoarthritis (OA). A patient with OA may have a coexisting hypertension for which antihypertensive drugs are prescribed. However evidence indicates that NSAIDs diminish efficacy of antihypertensive drugs.

The aim was to determine the respective and combined effects of NSAIDs and physical therapy in management of pain and reduced functional limitation among patients with concurrent hypertension and knee osteoarthritis (CHKO).

This is a quasi-experimental study technique

Physiotherapy and Medical Outpatient units of a tertiary facility.

Twenty-nine individuals (mean age = 65.71±9.96 years) with CHKO were purposively sampled and assigned to one of three treatment groups viz. Physiotherapy and NSAIDS (Group A); Physiotherapy Only (Group B); and NSAIDs only (Group C). All were on antihypertensive drugs during the study period. Resting systolic and diastolic blood pressure, pain rating and functional limitation were assessed using sphygmomanometer, verbal rating scale and the Osteoarthritis Index of Lequesne respectively.

There was no significant difference in the pain and functional performance across the three groups (p>0.05). There was significant reduction in pain and increase in functional ability of the patients within each of the groups (p<0.05), with greatest within-group difference observed in Group C. The NSAID did not cause a significant difference in blood pressure of all the patients.

The outcome showed that either Physiotherapy or NSAID could bring about the relief of pain and functional improvement in patients with CHKO.

Use of physiotherapy should be considered in managing symptoms of OA in patients with CHKO especially where drug-drug interaction is envisaged.