Functions of the hip are crucial for the functional independence of an individual, being the reason of great repercussion of Osteoarthritis (OA) on the alterations in this joint. Hip OA is a chronic degenerative disease and the available treatment aims to alleviate its symptoms. Exercises, one of the conservative treatment possibilities, have been indicated for the reduction of pain and function improvement. The purpose of this systematic review is to clarify the function and effectiveness of physical exercises in the conservative treatment of hip OA. The review of the literature was based on PUBMED, LILACS and MEDLINE database consultation, searching for article publications of randomized clinical trials for the last ten years (July/2005 - July/1995), using the combination of the following keywords: osteoarthritis, hip, exercise. The search resulted in eighteen articles; ten of each followed given criteria and underwent complete revision. After analysis of the ten selected studies, three categories were identified: a) specific exercises for OA of hip (n=3); b) exercises for OA of hip and knee (n=4) and c) exercises for pre and post-surgery of total hip (n=3). Three studies have encountered limitations with the practice of exercises. Although, the majority of the articles have demonstrated good results of exercises in the hip OA treatment, it is still not possible to determine their actual extension in the clinical picture of the illness and on its progression, mainly due to the scarcity of researches and to the lack of specificity of the proposed interventions.
osteoarthritis; hip; exercise therapy; randomized clinical trials
