Knee Osteoarthritis and Booster Visits
Knee Osteoarthritis and Booster Visits
DR. MICHELLE MILLNER, PT, DPT, OCS
Knee osteoarthritis is one of the most common conditions that physical therapists treat in the outpatient setting. Annual costs of care in the United States for both patients and insurances combined is in excess of $186 billion per year.
A recent study published in Physical Therapy, the peer reviewed scientific journal of the American Physical Therapy Association, looked at the differences in costs among 3 different groups with osteoarthritis of the knee. There were 3 groups in the study. The first group received exercise only interventions for 12 visits over 9 weeks. The second group received exercise and manual therapy for 12 visits over 9 weeks. The last group received exercise and manual therapy for 8 visits over 9 weeks and then 4 additional booster visits across 1 year.
Quality of life and costs of treatment were measured over a 2 year period.
The exercise plus manual therapy plus booster visits group had both reduced costs and better quality of life compared with the other two groups.
What does this mean for you?
It means that in many cases, a course of physical therapy followed by booster visits every few months may have a better outcome for you. Knee osteoarthritis can be managed with an appropriate exercise program much of the time.
If you are struggling with knee osteoarthritis that is impacting your daily activities, consider coming in for a visit. We pride ourselves on taking an entire hour to thoroughly evaluate each patient and provide the most evidence based treatment strategies.
If you would like more information, please call Professional Physical Therapy and Training at 973-270-7417. Our offices are located within the YMCA locations in Madison and Summit, NJ. You do not need to be a member of the YMCA to visit with us.