BACKGROUND: Strengthening exercises help improve physical function and muscle strength in knee osteoarthritis (OA). However, optimal exercise programmes for treating knee OA remain unclear. OBJECTIVE : To compare efficacy of isometric exercises performed at different angles and isokinetic exercises in patients with knee OA. METHODS: Patients were randomly divided into two groups. For four weeks, Group I (n = 15) and II (n = 17) patients with grade 2 to 4 performed isokinetic and isometric exercises at several different angles, respectively. Flexor and extensor knee muscle strengths were measured. Pain and physical function were assessed using VAS, WOMAC, the Lequesne Index and SF-36. All parameters were recorded at three time points: baseline (T0), after treatment (T1) and at 10-week follow-up (T2). RESULTS: VAS on movement, WOMAC, Leuqesne and SF-36 physical scores improved from T0 to T2 within each group, but Grade 3 and Grade 4 patients in the Group I showed better results compared with Group II at T2. Isokinetic exercise yielded higher extensor PM values than its isometric counterpart at T2 (p < 0.05) at 180anddeg;/s for Grade 2 and Grade 3 patients. CONCLUSIONS: Both isokinetic and isometric exercises were effective in the treatment of knee OA of all grades in terms of pain reduction and functional improvements. However, isokinetic exercise produced longer lasting effects than isometric exercise.

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