Introduction: Osteoarthritis is the most common chronic degenerative joint disease that affects the synovial joints. Telephysiotherapy is a part of telemedicine that involves the remote delivery of physical therapy services using information and communication technology where the provider and recipient of the service are separated by location and/or time. Telecoaching is a form of telephysiotherapy and is used to provide support and encouragement to users at home, using modern telecommunications technology, through motivational messages or telephone counseling. Purpose: The purpose of the thesis was to determine, through a literature review, the effect of telephysiotherapy on reducing pain and improving the function of lower limbs in patients with knee osteoarthritis while performing
home-based therapeutic exercises. Methods: The literature search was conducted in the PubMed and PEDro databases. The following key words and phrases in English were used alone or in combination: knee osteoarthritis, telerehabilitation, telehealth, internet-based rehabilitation. Results: Using inclusion and exclusion criteria, 7 studies were included in the detailed analysis. The studies involved between 36 and 415 participants. The minimum age limit was 45 years. Therapeutic exercise programs lasted from 6 weeks to 2 years. In the experimental groups, all exercise programs included exercises to strengthen the muscles of the lower limbs and various forms of telecoaching. In the control groups, subjects mostly received general medical care, with no additional remote support. Statistically significant differences in knee pain reduction were found between the groups in two studies. One study showed a statistically significant reduction in pain within the control group after 8 weeks. Three studies showed a statistically significant difference in improvement of function between the groups. One study showed a statistically significant improvement in function within the experimental group after 8 weeks. Discussion and conclusion: Research results have shown that the use of telephysiotherapy in combination with therapeutic exercise in individuals with knee arthrosis achieves promising results in reducing pain and improving function. The greatest changes in pain reduction and improvement of function occur in the initial period of treatment. In the future, it would make sense to conduct more research to study the long-term effects of telephysiotherapy and therapeutic exercise at home in knee arthrosis with comparable exercise protocols.
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