An Exploratory Study of the Effects of Aquatic Walking on Function and Muscle Activity in Knee Osteoarthritis: Part 2.

This paper presents Part 2 of a study that investigated the effects of an 8-week (3x/week) underwater treadmill (UT) walking intervention on knee osteoarthritis (KOA) outcomes in 6 adults with KOA (62.7 ± 14.2 years). The Knee Outcome Survey (KOS) for activities of daily living and muscle activity during a 10-m walk and a 20 cm step down were measured before and after the intervention. The following KOS measures improved after the UT walking program (p < 0.05; g > 0.8): stiffness, swelling, weakness, walking, going up stairs, going downstairs, kneeling on the front of the knee, squatting, and sitting with the knee bent. Knee flexion excursion during stance of walking increased after the UT walking intervention (p = .01). Co-activation between the tibialis anterior and medial gastrocnemius decreased during the 20 cm step down (p = .04). The findings of this study support using the WWE as a model for UT walking interventions in KOA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]