COMPARISON OF THE EFFECTIVENESS OF MUSCLE ENERGY TECHNIQUE AND ECCENTRIC EXERCISE IN REDUCING DISABILITY IN TENNIS ELBOW SUFFERERS

Abstract

Tennis elbow is an injury that often occurs in athletes, and individuals who frequently use the muscles of the forearm and around the elbow joint.  The pain felt will result in a decrease in the ability of the hand in the individual.  Exercises that can be given to reduce disability are muscle energy technique (MET) and eccentric exercise.  MET has an impact in accelerating tissue healing, reducing pain, increasing tissue elasticity and flexibility, and increasing joint scope of motion.  Meanwhile, eccentric exercises help the tendon healing process and reduce pain.  This study aimed to determine the difference in the effectiveness of muscle energy technique with eccentric exercise in reducing disability in tennis elbow sufferers.  This type of research was quasi experimental research with pre- and post-test two group design.  This research was carried out at the Siloam Hospital in July 2023.  The sample of this study amounted to 18 people who were further divided into two groups, namely Group 1 (MET) and  Group 2 (eccentric exercise).  Tennis elbow disability was measured by a patient-rated tennis elbow evaluation (PRTEE) questionnaire.   Based on the results of the paired sample t-test before and after in Groups 1 and 2, there was a significant change in reducing disability in tennis elbow sufferers after giving the exercise to each group (p<0.001).  In the independent t-test, there was a significant difference between group 1 and group 2 in reducing disability in tennis elbow sufferers (p=0.016).  It can be concluded that muscle energy techniques are more effective than eccentric exercise in reducing disability in tennis elbow sufferers.