Introduction: Osteoarthritis is a chronic progressive degenerative joint disease affecting the articular cartilage and surrounding tissues. Its prevalence has more than doubled in the last decade and is currently one of the ten most common disabilities worldwide. The most typical symptoms include pain, muscle weakness, joint instability, short-term morning stiffness, crepitations, and functional limitations. Previous studies reported the beneficial effects of backward walking in individuals with knee osteoarthritis. Purpose: To review and analyze the effects of backward walking on various parameters in patients with knee osteoarthritis. Methods: Literature published in 2010 or later was searched in PubMed and ResearchGate databases. Results: Nine articles that met the criteria were included in the analysis. The results showed improvements in the backward walking groups compared to conventional physiotherapy in most studies for all measured parameters except knee range of motion and balance. When comparing backward walking with forward walking, no significant differences were found in favour of backward walking. Discussion and conclusion: The research findings were similar, concluding that backward walking in combination with conventional physiotherapy is an effective exercise that can be incorporated into the lifestyle of patients with knee osteoarthritis. In the future, it would be worthwhile to investigate the long-term effects of backward walking on patients with knee osteoarthritis and to establish its advantages and disadvantages compared to forward walking.
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