PENERAPAN STRETCHING EXERCISE TERHADAP PENURUNAN KADAR ASAM URAT PADA LANSIA DENGAN GOUT ARTHRITIS DI KLINIK AMANAH JENANGAN

IN OLD AGE, MANY BODY FUNCTIONS DECLINE, LEADING TO DEGENERATIVE DISEASES. ELEVATED URIC ACID LEVELS CAUSE OLDER ADULTS TO REDUCE THEIR ACTIVITY LEVELS, EVEN THOUGH THEY SOMETIMES EXPERIENCE JOINT PAIN. ELEVATED URIC ACID LEVELS CAN ALSO LEAD TO GOUTY ARTHRITIS, WHICH CAUSES JOINT PAIN. THE PURPOSE OF THIS STUDY WAS TO DETERMINE THE EFFECT OF STRETCHING EXERCISES ON REDUCING URIC ACID LEVELS IN OLDER ADULTS WITH GOUTY ARTHRITIS AT THE AMANAH CLINIC. THE RESEARCH DESIGN USED A QUASI-EXPERIMENTAL, NON-EQUIVALENT CONTROL GROUP PRETEST-POSTTEST DESIGN. THE STUDY RESPONDENTS WERE ELDERLY PATIENTS AT THE AMANAH CLINIC. THE POPULATION WAS 361. PURPOSIVE SAMPLING WAS USED. THE SAMPLE SIZE WAS 79 ELDERLY INDIVIDUALS DIVIDED INTO AN INTERVENTION GROUP (N=40) RECEIVING STRETCHING EXERCISES AND MEDICATION, AND A CONTROL GROUP (N=39 RECEIVING MEDICATION. DATA COLLECTION USED OBSERVATION SHEETS. ANALYSIS USED A PAIRED T-TEST. THE RESULTS OF THE STUDY SHOWED A HIGHER REDUCTION IN URIC ACID LEVELS IN ELDERLY PATIENTS WITH GOUTY ARTHRITIS AT THE AMANAH CLINIC WHO USED MEDICATION AND UNDERWENT STRETCHING EXERCISES COMPARED TO THOSE WHO USED MEDICATION AND DID NOT UNDERGO STRETCHING EXERCISES. WITH A P-VALUE OF 0.000, H0 WAS REJECTED AND H1 WAS ACCEPTED. THIS MEANS THERE WAS A SIGNIFICANT EFFECT BETWEEN THE GROUP GIVEN STRETCHING EXERCISES AND THE GROUP THAT DID NOT, ON THE REDUCTION OF URIC ACID LEVELS. THEREFORE, STRETCHING EXERCISES IN THE INTERVENTION GROUP SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCED URIC ACID LEVELS IN ELDERLY PATIENTS WITH GOUTY ARTHRITIS AT THE AMANAH JENANGAN CLINIC. THIS STUDY IS EXPECTED TO SERVE AS A REFERENCE FOR EVERY COMPANY, AGENCY, AND ELDERLY PERSON TO RECOGNIZE THE IMPORTANCE OF IMPLEMENTING STRETCHING EXERCISES IN ADDITION TO MEDICATION FOR A GREATER IMPACT ON REDUCING GOUTY ARTHRITIS.
KEYWORDS: URIC ACID, STRETCHING EXERCISE, GOUT ARTHRITIS