[The contribution of home based exercise programme in case of osteoarthritis of the knee].

Background: Knee Osteoarthritis is the most frequent articular disease. It may cause disability and handicap.

Aim Of The Study: to assess the effect of a home based exercice programme in a Tunisian population having knee osteoarthritis, associated with medical treatment and education.

Methods: Prospective study during three months, including 34 Tunisian patients with knee osteoarthritis. A clinical and functional assessment of the patients was made using respectively the visual analogic scale for the pain, the Lequesne index, the Functional Independence Measure and the womac function score for the function, the HAQ and SF 36 for the assessment of the quality of life.

Results: Visual analogic scores for pain were reduced in the exercise group. Lequesne index scores reduced significantly in the exercise group and were unchanged in the controls. Quality of life was greater in the exercise group compared with the controls.

Conclusion: Home based exercise programme contributes to relieving pain, maintaining function and to ameliorate the quality of life of people having knee osteoarthritis.