The PLE2NO self-management and exercise program : effects on knee osteoarthritis symptoms, health behaviors, quality of life and physical fitness in elderlies

• Autor(a) principal: Marconcin, Priscila Ellen Pinto
• Data de Publicação: 2016
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: http://hdl.handle.net/10400.5/13031
• topic: Self-management; Education; Exercise program; Knee osteoarthritis; Elderly; Autogestão; Educação; Programa de exercício; Osteoartrose do joelho; Idosos; Domínio/Área Científica::Ciências Médicas::Ciências da Saúde

The main international guidelines recommend physical exercise and participation in self-management programs as a non-pharmacological treatment for Knee Osteoarthritis (KOA). This project was based on the non-pharmacological intervention for KOA, namely on exercise and education. Thus, the thesis is presented in five articles format. The first article is the protocol of PLE2NO program (Free Education and Exercise Program for Osteoarthritis), was designed to investigate the efficacy of a combined self-management and exercise program in older adults with KOA. The following two articles are cross-sectional studies with analysis of the baseline data from PLE2NO sample. The second article aimed to investigate which factors best predict the Timed "up-and-go" test. It concludes that functional lower limbs strength, ability to walk long distances, walking speed, perception of the impact of pathology in the tasks of daily life and the perception of health-related self-care and usual activities are predictors of the Timed "up-and-go" test. Thus, the test Timed "up-and-go" appears to be a good choice in the assessment of KOA elderly patients. The third article analyzes the use of coping strategies and the effect that sociodemographic variables, severity of disease, pain and other KOA symptoms have on the choice of coping strategies. It concludes that none of the variables investigated was decisive in the choice of coping strategies and the strategies most used by the sample are related in the literature with better outcome measures. It is an important contribution to the development of future educational programs. The last two articles focus on the main purpose of this thesis: to evaluate the effectiveness of a self-management and exercise program in elderly with KOA. The fourth article investigated the effect of the program on the variables: KOA symptoms, self-management behavior, health-related quality of life (VAS) and on health related physical fitness components (aerobic capacity, functional lower limb strength, flexibility and handgrip). It concludes that the PLE2NO program had a significant effect on communication with the physician and physical variables: aerobic capacity, functional lower limb strength and upper limb flexibility. The fifth article investigated the effect of the program on the variables: self-efficacy, physical activity, health-related quality of life (index) and on skills related physical fitness components (agility, balance and gait speed). It concludes that the PLE2NO program had a significant effect on self-efficacy, physical activity level, sedentary behavior and balance. Both articles contribute to reinforce international recommendations concerning exercise and self-management for KOA.