Effects of an Integrated Approach of Hatha Yoga Therapy on Functional Disability, Pain, and Flexibility in Osteoarthritis of the Knee Joint: A Randomized Controlled Study

Objectives: The study objectives were to evaluate the efficacy of integrating hatha yoga therapy with therapeutic exercises for osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee joints. Design: This was a prospective, randomized, active controlled trial. Two hundred and fifty (250) participants who had OA knees and who were between 35 and 80 years (yoga 59.56±9.54) and (control 59.42±10.66) from the outpatient department of Ebnezar Orthopedic Center, Bengaluru, were randomly assigned to receive hatha yoga therapy or therapeutic exercises after transcutaneous electrical stimulation and ultrasound treatment (20 minutes per day). Both of the groups practiced supervised interventions (40 minutes per day) for 3 months. One hundred and eighteen (118) (yoga) and 117 (control) subjects were available for the final analysis. Results: There were significant differences within (Wilcoxon's, p