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Among men and women 60 and older with chronic osteoarthritis of the hip and knee, those who participated in 12 weeks of hydrotherapy or Tai Chi experienced significant improvements in pain and physical function scores, Marlene Fransen of The George Institute for International Health at the University of Sydney and her colleagues found.
However, participants in the hydrotherapy group were more likely to attend sessions than those assigned to Tai Chi. They also experienced significant improvements in measurements of physical performance, such as ability to climb stairs and walk, which weren't seen in the Tai Chi group. "Hydrotherapy classes appeared to be more acceptable (higher attendance), appeared to provide greater relief of joint pain, and resulted in larger improvements in objective measurements of physical performance," Fransen and her team conclude in the medical journal Arthritis & Rheumatism.
The researchers randomly assigned 152 people to hydrotherapy, Tai Chi, or a waiting group. Classes lasted an hour and were offered twice a week. After 12 weeks, there were significant improvements on scores measuring pain and physical function in both groups.
At 24 weeks, all improvements had been sustained and were greater than have been demonstrated in studies of traditional land-based exercise for arthritis patients.
