COMPARATIVE EFFECTS OF LOW INTENSITY LASER THERAPY VERSUS MICROWAVE THERAPY ON PAIN AND FUNCTION IN PATIENTS WITH KNEE OSTEOARTHRITIS: A RANDOMIZED CLINICAL TRIAL
Bibliographic record
Abstract
Background: Knee osteoarthritis (OA), a degenerative joint disease characterized by pain, stiffness, and functional decline, significantly impacts quality of life, particularly in aging populations. Nonpharmacological therapies like Low-Level Laser Therapy (LLLT) and Microwave Therapy (MWT) are increasingly explored for their potential to alleviate symptoms without systemic side effects. While LLLT employs photo-biomodulation to reduce inflammation and enhance tissue repair, MWT relies on thermal mechanisms for pain. This study aimed to compare the efficacy of LLLT and MWT in reducing pain and improving functional activity in patients with knee OA grades 2 and 3, using the Numeric Pain Rating Scale (NPRS) and the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC). Methods: A randomized controlled trial included 30 participants (15 per group) diagnosed with knee OA (Kellgren-Lawrence grades 2-3). Group A received LLLT (830nm, 32 J/cm²/session) alongside a standardized exercise protocol, while Group B underwent MWT (2450 MHz, 20 minutes/session) with the same exercises. Interventions were administered every alternate day for three weeks. Pain (NPRS) and function (WOMAC) were assessed pre- and post-intervention. Statistical analysis used paired and independent t-tests via SPSS. Result: LLLT demonstrated superior outcomes: NPRS scores decreased by 3.47 ± 0.74 (p < 0.001) vs. 1.27 ± 0.96 in MWT (p < 0.05). WOMAC improvements were 21.47 ± 9.04 (LLLT) vs. 10.40 ± 5.43 (MWT) (p < 0.001). These results align with LLLT’s anti-inflammatory and mitochondrial-modulating mechanisms, contrasting MWT’s transient thermal effects. Conclusion: LLLT outperforms MWT in managing pain and function in moderate knee OA, attributed to its bio-modulatory effects on inflammation and tissue repair. While MWT offers short-term relief, LLLT’s sustained benefits position it as a better non-pharmacological therapy.
Fetched live from OpenAlex and de-inverted. Abstracts are not stored in this database: the inverted indexes are 8.6 GB of the frame’s 9.3 GB of text, and the host has 13 GB free.
How this classification was reachedexpand
Full frame machine prediction
Teacher imitationNot calibrated prevalence, not ground truth. Human validation pending. The Gemma side is a direct model label for every work in the frame, read from the title-only record. The Codex side is a classifier learned from the 10,348 direct Codex labels and calibrated to design-weighted sample rates; fields without enough sample support carry no Codex call. Candidate is the union of the two sides; consensus is their intersection. These outputs are machine_predicted_unvalidated and are not human labels.
Distilled classifier scores by category (both heads)
| Category | Codex | Gemma |
|---|---|---|
| Metaresearch | 0.004 | 0.004 |
| Meta-epidemiology (narrow) | 0.002 | 0.001 |
| Meta-epidemiology (broad) | 0.007 | 0.003 |
| Bibliometrics | 0.001 | 0.001 |
| Science and technology studies | 0.001 | 0.002 |
| Scholarly communication | 0.002 | 0.002 |
| Open science | 0.001 | 0.001 |
| Research integrity | 0.003 | 0.003 |
| Insufficient payload (model declined to judge) | 0.010 | 0.001 |
Machine scores (provisional)
The two teacher heads of the student model, read on this work. A score orders the frame for review; it never asserts a category, and the validation status ships verbatim with every row.
Baseline scores from an immature model (maturity gate not passed, 7 training rounds). Scores rank; they never assert a category.
score_only:v0-immature-baseline · verbatim from the scoring run: score_only means the number may rank works, and no category label ships from itClassification
machine, unvalidatedMachine predicted; a candidate call from one source (direct Gemma or distilled Codex), not a consensus.
How this classification was reached, model by model and score by score, is at the end of the page under "How this classification was reached".