PAIN RELIEF WITH PREVENTIVE MEASURES AMONG KNEE OSTEOARTHRITIS PATIENTS: A COMPARISON BETWEEN FOLLOWERS VERSUS NON FOLLOWERS

Objective: To compare mean pain scores among knee osteoarthritis patients following or not following preventive measures. Study Design: Comparative prospective study. Place and Duration of Study: The study was conducted at the department of orthopedics, Pakistan Ordinance Factory (POF) Hospital, Wah Cantt, from Jun 2018 to May 2019. Methodology: Patients were divided into two groups (using random number table); group A was given pain relief medications only while group B was given a combination of pain relief medication and preventive measure. Patients were followed for 3 and 6 months after the intervention. Data was analyzed with SPSS software. Results: Total 52 knee osteoarthritis patients were included in study (26 patients in each group). Mean age of patients was 54.3 ± 6.4 year. Significantly lower pain scores were found in group B as compared to group A after 3 (5.50 ± 0.98 vs 4.84 ± 1.00 respectively, p=0.02) and 6 months (3.53 ± 0.50 vs 4.96 ± 1.11 respectively, p