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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Public Health
Sec. Aging and Public Health
Volume 12 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2024.1415882

Exploring the Impact of Physiotherapy on Health Outcomes in Older Adults with Chronic Diseases: A Cross-Sectional Analysis

Provisionally accepted
RAVI SHANKAR Y. REDDY RAVI SHANKAR Y. REDDY 1*Khalid A Alahmari Khalid A Alahmari 1Mastour Saeed Alshahrani Mastour Saeed Alshahrani 1Batool Alkhamis Batool Alkhamis 1Jaya Shanker Tedla Jaya Shanker Tedla 1Mohammad A. ALMohiza Mohammad A. ALMohiza 2Basant Hamdy Elrefaey Basant Hamdy Elrefaey 1Ghada Koura Ghada Koura 1Kumar Gular Kumar Gular 1Hani Hassan Alnakhli Hani Hassan Alnakhli 1Debjani MUKHERJEE Debjani MUKHERJEE 1Vikram sreenivasa Rao Vikram sreenivasa Rao 3Khalid Awad Al-Qahtani Khalid Awad Al-Qahtani 1
  • 1 Program of Physical Therapy, Department of Medical Rehabilitation Sciences, College of Applied Medical Sciences, King Khalid University, Abha 61421, Saudi Arabia, Abha, Saudi Arabia
  • 2 Department of Health Rehabilitation Sciences, College of Applied Medical Sciences, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
  • 3 Department of Anatomy. King Khalid University Abha Saudi Arabia., Abha, Saudi Arabia

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Objective: This study evaluates the impact of physiotherapy interventions on health outcomes and explores the correlation between physiotherapy session characteristics and improvements in health among older individuals.Methods: In a cross-sectional design, 384 older adults with chronic conditions such as arthritis, osteoporosis, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), diabetes, and hypertension were recruited.Results: The proportion of arthritis (39.1%) and hypertension (45.8%) was notably high. Participants receiving physiotherapy showed significant improvements in pain levels (mean reduction from 5.09 to 2.95), mobility scores (improvement from 3.0 to 3.96), and functional independence. A positive correlation was identified between the frequency of physiotherapy sessions and pain reduction (r = 0.26, p = 0.035), and a stronger correlation between session duration and both pain reduction (r = 0.38, p = 0.002) and mobility improvement (r = 0.43, p = 0.001). High satisfaction rates with physiotherapy were reported, and age was found to be a significant negative predictor of health outcomes (Coef. = -0.3402, p = 0.0009).Conclusions: Physiotherapy interventions significantly improve health outcomes in older adults with chronic diseases.

    Keywords: Physiotherapy, chronic diseases, Elderly health, Pain Management, mobility, Functional independence, Geriatric care

    Received: 11 Apr 2024; Accepted: 05 Aug 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 REDDY, Alahmari, Alshahrani, Alkhamis, Tedla, ALMohiza, Elrefaey, Koura, Gular, Alnakhli, MUKHERJEE, Rao and Al-Qahtani. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: RAVI SHANKAR Y. REDDY, Program of Physical Therapy, Department of Medical Rehabilitation Sciences, College of Applied Medical Sciences, King Khalid University, Abha 61421, Saudi Arabia, Abha, Saudi Arabia

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.