Year: 2026 | Month: May | Volume: 13 | Issue: 5 | Pages: 594-604
DOI: https://doi.org/10.52403/ijrr.20260554
Domain-Specific Changes in Quality of Life Following Multimodal Physiotherapy Interventions in Postmenopausal Women with Bilateral Knee Osteoarthritis: A WHOQOL-BREF based analysis
Sehajleen Kaur1, Varinder Kaur2
1Postgraduate Student, Department of Physiotherapy, Khalsa College, Amritsar, Punjab, India
2Assistant Professor, Department of Physiotherapy, Khalsa University, Amritsar, Punjab, India
Corresponding Author: Sehajleen Kaur
ABSTRACT
Background: Knee osteoarthritis (KOA) is a prevalent degenerative joint disorder that significantly affects the quality of life of postmenopausal women by causing pain, stiffness, reduced mobility and difficulty in performing daily activities. Quality of life (QOL) is often impaired across physical, psychological, social and environmental domains. Physiotherapy interventions are used in the management of knee osteoarthritis, however evidence comparing their effects on quality of life remains limited.
Objective: To compare the effectiveness of Therapeutic Ultrasound, Isometric exercises and Dynamic Quadriceps with Interferential Current Therapy, Multiple-Angle Isometrics and Mini-Squats on QOL in postmenopausal women with KOA assessed across all domains of the World Health Organization Quality of Life- Brief Version (WHOQOL-BREF) including physical health, psychological, social relationships and environmental domain.
Methods: Sixty postmenopausal women aged 40-60 years diagnosed with bilateral knee osteoarthritis (Kellgren Lawrence grade II-III) were randomly divided into two groups. Group A received Therapeutic Ultrasound, Isometric exercises and Dynamic Quadriceps whereas Group B received Interferential Current Therapy, Multiple-Angle Isometrics and Mini-squats. The WHOQOL-BREF was employed as the primary outcome measure to evaluate QOL across four domains: physical, psychological, social and environmental well-being. Assessments using the WHOQOL-BREF were conducted at baseline and after four weeks of intervention.
Results: Both groups showed significant improvement in QOL across all the WHOQOL-BREF domains. However, Group B demonstrated greater improvement. Physical domain showed the highest improvement followed by psychological, social and environmental domain.
Conclusion: The findings emphasize the clinical effectiveness of both multimodal physiotherapy interventions in the improvement of QOL in postmenopausal women with bilateral knee osteoarthritis. The protocol implemented in Group B produced comparatively superior outcomes.
Keywords: Knee osteoarthritis, Postmenopausal Women, World Health Organization Quality of Life- Brief Version, Therapeutic ultrasound, Interferential Current Therapy, Isometric Exercise, Multiple-Angle Isometrics, Dynamic Quadriceps, Mini-Squats
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