OBJECTIVE: To systematically explain the various rehabilitation evaluation and intervention measures for osteoarthritis of knee, so as to provide more satisfactory therapeutic programs for the patients. DATA SOURCES: A computer-based online search of Medline database was undertaken to identify articles about the rehabilitation evaluation and treatments for osteoarthritis published in English from January 1980 to April 2003 by using the keywords of 'osteoarthritis, knee, rehabilitation, treatment'. Meanwhile, Chinese articles about the rehabilitation evaluation and treatments for osteoarthritis published between January 1980 and April 2003 were searched with computer in CBM database, the keywords were 'osteoarthritis, knee, rehabilitation, treatment'. STUDY SELECTION: The data were checked firstly, the obvious non-randomized controlled studies were screened, and then the full-texts of the rest articles were looked up to further judge whether it was clinical randomized controlled trial or not. Inclusive criteria: (1) clinical randomized controlled trial; (2) containing parallel control group in the study, that was, placebo control, blank control, positive control, dose-effect control, etc; (3) different therapeutic methods involved in the article were used in the treatment. DATA EXTRACTION: Totally 29 articles of clinical studies about the rehabilitation evaluation and treatments for osteoarthritis of knee were collected, 13 of them accorded with the inclusive criteria, and the 16 deleted trials were repetitive. DATA SYNTHESIS: The main pathological characteristics of osteoarthritis of knee were the fibrosis of articular cartilage, degeneration and new bone formation, which could lead to the lability, subluxation and flexion contracture of joints. The rehabilitation of the patients could be evaluated with the diagnostic criteria, morphological examination, testing of muscle strength, assay of knee joint motion, gait analysis, proprioception, assessments of abilities of daily life, quality of life and disabled index. The main intervention measures were the treatments of medicine, physics, exercise, work, traditional Chinese medicine, physiology, biological engineering and operation. CONCLUSION: The rehabilitation of osteoarthritis of knee can be evaluated from different aspects, and various therapeutic methods can be selected in the treatment, but there is still no single effective method at present, and the together application of various therapeutic methods may have the best effect.

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