Aplicación de facilitación neuromuscular propioceptiva, para mejorar la condición muscular en adultos mayores con artrosis de rodilla

Abstract

Knee osteoarthritis is one of the most frequent diseases that affects the joint, a product of biomechanical stress causing pain, joint stiffness and decreased functional capacity in an older adult. For this reason, this research project aims to investigate the effectiveness of the application of proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation to improve muscle condition in older adults with knee osteoarthritis, based on a prospective quasi-experimental quantitative study with a population of 26 older adults from the daytime gerontological center of the Municipal GAD of the Canton of Colta. The treatment was to apply the PNF technique such as rhythmic initiation, a combination of isotonics, inversion of antagonists, and repetition, the study began with a small survey to identify sociodemographic variables (age, sex, marital status) and evaluated with the WOMAC survey before and after the intervention. This survey helped to show whether or not there was pain, joint stiffness, functional capacity and noticeably checking alterations in them. At the end of the treatment with the PNF exercises, a new assessment was carried out to see whether conditions improved in this population. PNF exercises were very useful in significantly reducing pain, joint stiffness and functional capacity. To verify the effectiveness of PNF exercises, the Wilcoxon test was applied, which resulted in P = 0.00. This means that the null hypothesis is rejected, verifying that the PNF exercises that were carried out in this investigation were effective.