Background: Knee osteoarthritis (OA) is a common progressive, multifactorial, long-term
chronic joint disease, characterized by deterioration of joint cartilage, leading to chronic
pain, stiffness, and functional disability. The aim of the study: was to evaluate the effects
of heat application, physical exercises, and combined interventions on pain, morning
stiffness, and activity level among patients with knee osteoarthritis. Research design: A
quasi-experimental design was utilized to conduct the current study. Setting: This study
was conducted at the orthopedic outpatient clinics of Suez Canal University Hospital.
Subjects: A purposive sample of 120 adult patients were randomly classified into three
equal groups (heat application group, physical exercise group, and combined intervention
group), which are included in the study. Tools of data collection: Two tools were used for
data collection. Tool I: A structured interview questionnaire to assess patients'
demographic data, as well as current and past health history; Tool II: Knee Injury and
Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS) to assess patient-relevant outcomes following knee
injury. Results: revealed a statistically significant difference between the heat application
group, the physical exercise group, and the combined intervention group in terms of total
mean score (45.51±5.77, 46.07±9.99, 44.96±7.39 respectively) regarding morning stiffness
with (P value. equal 001), while pain felling showed (48.99±7.28,50.90±10.66,48.40±9.66
respectively), while total activity levels showed (76.79±9.95,65.22±18.34,88.35±6.79
respectively) at the post-intervention phase. Conclusion: Combined intervention had the
greatest positive effect on relieving pain and morning stiffness, with an improvement in the
physical functions. Recommendation: Combined intervention of heat application and
physical exercise are the choice of preference for managing patients with knee
osteoarthritis problems as part of non-pharmacological strategies.