ORIGINAL PAPER
ICF-guided home-based physiotherapy interventions – assessing their impact on quality of life in palliative care for patients with rheumatoid arthritis: a pilot study
1
Department of Physiotherapy, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Integral University, Lucknow, India
2
Department of Community Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Integral University, Lucknow, India
3
Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Integral University, Lucknow, India
4
Department of Physical Therapy, College of Nursing and Health Sciences, Jazan University, Jazan, Saudi Arabia
5
Department of Medical Rehabilitation Science, College of Applied Medical Sciences, Najran University, Najran, Saudi Arabia
Submission date: 2023-05-26
Acceptance date: 2023-09-04
Publication date: 2025-06-18
Corresponding author
Abdur Raheem Khan
Department of Physiotherapy, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Integral University, Kursi road, Dasauli Lucknow, India
Department of Physiotherapy, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Integral University, Kursi road, Dasauli Lucknow, India
Physiother Quart. 2025;33(2):66-70
KEYWORDS
palliative carequality of lifephysiotherapyICFpain managementphysical functioningpsychological well-bein
TOPICS
ABSTRACT
Introduction:
The current study assessed the impact of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF)-guided home-based physiotherapy programs on improving quality of life in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) receiving palliative care.
Methods:
The study used a two-arm parallel group pretest-posttest experimental group design. A total of 50 RA patients receiving palliative home care were recruited based on the eligibility criteria and randomly allocated to an intervention group (n = 25) that received ICF-guided physiotherapy with standard care or a control group (n = 25) that received only standard care. The study used the Short Form Health Survey (SF-36) to assess quality of life, the Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ) to measure physical function, the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) to determine pain levels, and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) to evaluate psychological health. Data was collected at the start of the study and after a 12-week intervention period.
Results:
The intervention group had significant improvements for all outcome scores, including SF-36 (p < 0.001), HAQ (p < 0.001), and VAS (p < 0.001) when compared to the control group.
Conclusions:
The findings emphasise the considerable potential of ICF-guided home-based physiotherapy interventions in enhancing the quality of life, physical functionality, pain management, and psychological health of RA patients receiving palliative care. Implementing such interventions as part of the palliative care protocol for RA patients could greatly improve patient outcomes. However, additional long-term studies are advised to confirm these benefits and refine the intervention strategies.
The current study assessed the impact of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF)-guided home-based physiotherapy programs on improving quality of life in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) receiving palliative care.
Methods:
The study used a two-arm parallel group pretest-posttest experimental group design. A total of 50 RA patients receiving palliative home care were recruited based on the eligibility criteria and randomly allocated to an intervention group (n = 25) that received ICF-guided physiotherapy with standard care or a control group (n = 25) that received only standard care. The study used the Short Form Health Survey (SF-36) to assess quality of life, the Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ) to measure physical function, the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) to determine pain levels, and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) to evaluate psychological health. Data was collected at the start of the study and after a 12-week intervention period.
Results:
The intervention group had significant improvements for all outcome scores, including SF-36 (p < 0.001), HAQ (p < 0.001), and VAS (p < 0.001) when compared to the control group.
Conclusions:
The findings emphasise the considerable potential of ICF-guided home-based physiotherapy interventions in enhancing the quality of life, physical functionality, pain management, and psychological health of RA patients receiving palliative care. Implementing such interventions as part of the palliative care protocol for RA patients could greatly improve patient outcomes. However, additional long-term studies are advised to confirm these benefits and refine the intervention strategies.
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