Review article (meta-analysis)
Therapeutic Effects of Whole-Body Vibration Training in Knee Osteoarthritis: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apmr.2015.03.010Get rights and content

Highlights

  • Whole-body vibration can reduce pain and improve function in individuals with knee osteoarthritis.

  • Whole-body vibration does not relieve knee stiffness in individuals with knee osteoarthritis.

  • Long-term follow-up effects of whole-body vibration were not investigated.

Abstract

Objective

To examine the current evidence regarding the effects of whole-body vibration (WBV) training in individuals with knee osteoarthritis (OA).

Data Sources

We searched PubMed, CINAHL, Embase, Scopus, Physiotherapy Evidence Database (PEDro), and Science Citation Index for research articles published prior to January 2015 using the keywords whole body vibration, vibration training, and vibratory exercise in combination with the Medical Subject Heading osteoarthritis knee.

Study Selection

This meta-analysis was restricted to randomized controlled trials published in the English language. The quality of the selected studies was assessed by the PEDro Scale. The risk of bias was assessed using the Cochrane collaboration's tool in the domain-based evaluation. We also evaluated the quality of each study based on the criteria given by the International Society of Musculoskeletal and Neuronal Interactions for reporting WBV intervention studies, consisting of 13 factors.

Data Extraction

Descriptive data regarding subjects, design, intervention, WBV parameters, outcomes, and conclusions were collected from each study by 2 independent evaluators. The mean and SD of the baseline and final endpoint scores for pain, stiffness, and function were extracted from the included studies.

Data Synthesis

A total of 83 studies were found in the search. Of these, 5 studies met the inclusion criteria and were further analyzed. Four of these 5 studies reached high methodologic quality on the PEDro Scale. Overall, studies demonstrated mixed results in favor of additive effects of WBV for reducing pain and improving function in knee OA. There was considerable variation in the parameters of the WBV included in this systematic review.

Conclusions

WBV training reduces pain and improves function in individuals with knee OA.

Section snippets

Data sources

The search for published studies was conducted using PubMed, CINAHL, Embase, Scopus, Physiotherapy Evidence Database (PEDro), and Science Citation Index using a combination of the keywords whole body vibration, vibration therapy, and vibratory exercise with osteoarthritis knee and the Medical Subject Headings osteoarthritis, knee combined with whole body vibration or vibration. The bibliographic search was restricted to randomized controlled trials (RCTs) published in the English language prior

Identified studies

The initial search resulted in 83 research studies. A total of 65 studies that appeared in >1 database or did not meet predetermined inclusion criteria were excluded. A total of 18 studies were assessed for eligibility. Thirteen studies were eliminated because they did not match the inclusion criteria or were not available in full text (fig 1).5, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31 The final selection, made by consensus, resulted in the inclusion of 5 studies in the quality

Discussion

The present review evaluated 5 RCTs including a total of 165 participants to examine evidence regarding the therapeutic effect of WBV in the management of knee OA. Among the 5 studies evaluated using the PEDro Scale,14 4 were considered of high methodologic quality. Of the 5 included studies, 3 studies would be regarded as high risk of bias because they failed to fulfill the required criteria.7, 8, 10 Our evaluation showed that more than half of the studies performed adequate random sequence

Conclusions

WBV has demonstrated limited but beneficial therapeutic effects in individuals with knee OA. WBV training reduces pain and improves function in individuals with knee OA. In the present review there is a variation in the vibration protocol, training dose, and reported results. Therefore, more robust, well-designed studies are required for conclusive evidence of the beneficial therapeutic effects of WBV training in individuals with knee OA.

Supplier

  • a.

    Comprehensive Meta-Analysis; Biostat.

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  • Cited by (0)

    Supported by the King Saud University, Vice Deanship of Research Chairs, Rehabilitation Research Chair.

    Disclosures: none.

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