2023, Vol. 10, Issue 4, Part D

Objectives: Efficacy of Handmaster plus to reduce pain and improve hand grip strength in the management of Rheumatoid arthritis.

Methods: The study used an experimental design and the study setting was at Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Department, SV hospital Cherthala. 30 patients with Rheumatoid arthritis between the age group of 35- 55, were assigned in to two groups. The first group is treated with conventional methods. The second group were treated with Handmaster plus along with conventional treatment. The duration of the treatment was 2 weeks with 5 days a week. Outcomes was measured by VAS for pain and Sphygmomanometer for hand grip strength.

Results: Both groups showed significant improvement in reducing the pain and improving the hand grip strength after the rehabilitation program. The experimental group showed a statistically improvement in reducing the pain and improving the hand grip strength when compared to the control group. (P less than .01).

Conclusion: Rheumatoid arthritis patients who received Handmaster plus along the conventional physical therapy showed a statistically significant improvement in reducing the pain and improving the hand grip strength than control group. It can be a management of Rheumatoid arthritis patients for reducing the pain and improving the hand grip strength. A well designed trial is needed to study the effectiveness of Handmaster plus to reduce pain and improving the hand grip strength a large group and term effect.