Article

Database study - OBJECTIVE: To provide empirical evidence on the effect of early physical therapy
(PT) within the first year of osteoarthritis (OA) diagnosis on reduction in
OA-related comorbidities in patients with OA. DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study.
SETTING: The study was conducted using a nationally representative sample of 1
million National Health Insurance enrollees. PARTICIPANTS:
Newly diagnosed
patients with OA (N=13,545). One-to-one propensity score matching was used to
match patients who received PT within the first year of OA diagnosis (PT group;
n=3403) with an equal number of patients with OA who did not receive PT (non-PT
group). INTERVENTIONS: Not applicable. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The 4-year
cumulative risk of comorbidities including coronary artery disease (CAD),
diabetes mellitus, dyslipidemia, osteoporosis, gastrointestinal tract ulcer, and
renal failure was estimated. A Cox proportional hazards regression analysis was
performed to identify the dose-response relation between the PT dosage and the
risk of OA-related comorbidities. RESULTS: A total of 3403 patients (25.1%)
received PT within the first year of OA diagnosis. The PT group had a
significantly lower 4-year cumulative risk of dyslipidemia (P=.05) and a
potentially lower 4-year cumulative risk of CAD (P=.09). After adjusting for
other potential confounders, the Cox proportional hazards regression analysis
showed that patients with OA who received a high PT dosage had a low risk of CAD
and dyslipidemia. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with OA who received PT had a lower risk
of OA-related comorbidities such as dyslipidemia or CAD.
CI - Copyright (c) 2016 American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine. Published by
Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Langue : ANGLAIS