OBJECTIVES: This study aims to examine the effects of whole-body vibration (WBV) therapy plus home-based exercise (HBE) therapy; physical therapy modalities (PTMs) plus HBE; and WBV plus PTM plus HBE on pain severity, physical performance, and functional status in patients with knee osteoarthritis (OA). PATIENTS AND METHODS: This single-center, single-blind, three-armed, prospective, randomized-controlled study included a total of 65 patients (3 males, 62 females; mean age: 56.0 +/- 6.3 years; range, 45 to 70 years) who were diagnosed with knee OA between February 2014 and July 2014. The participants were randomly divided into three groups. Group 1 (n = 22) received WBV plus HBE, Group 2 (n = 22) received WBV plus PTM plus HBE, and Group 3 (n = 21) received PTM plus HBE alone. The primary outcome measure was functional physical performance, while the secondary outcome measures were pain intensity and functional status. All the measurements were evaluated by a single blinded investigator before and after treatment. RESULTS: All the functional physical performance tests (p < 0.01), pain intensity (p < 0.01), and functional status (p < 0.01) showed statistically significant effects in terms of time and group x time interaction, but no significant difference was observed among the groups (p > 0.05). We observed statistically and clinically significant improvement in all of the functional physical performance tests, pain, and functional status for Group 2. There was a statistically and clinically significant improvement only in the functional physical performance tests for Group 1. In Group 3, no clinical or statistical significance was achieved in any outcome measurements. CONCLUSION: Treatment program consisting of WBV plus PTM plus HBE can yield clinically and statistically favorable results by improving all of the pain, functional status and physical performance parameters of the patients with knee OA, while WBV plus HBE can be clinically and statistically effective only in the physical performance parameters of the patients.

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