Proprioceptive Impairments in OA Knee Patients

Abstract

Context: Error in estimating Joint position sense reflects the proprioceptive inaccuracy of the concerned joint. Such an error is threat to the joint integrity. Aim: determine extent of joint position deficit in patients with OA knees. Design: Hospital based, observational study Methods and Material: 94 Normal and 54 OA Knee patients were assessed to test Joint Position sense using Universal Goniometer. JPS was measured for Test angles 30ᵒ, 45ᵒ and 60ᵒ toward extension. At all angles test was performed three times in sequence. Radiologist gave K L scores. Statistics: STATA/IC-13 and SPSS Version 16. Results: All test angles on comparison with reproducible angles were significantly different (P-value <0.001) between right and left knees of both normals and OA patients. The Mean Range of Error in Reproducible Angles was 0.97 -5.48 on Right and 0.63-5.92 on Left in Normals, and 1.61 -8.52 on Right and 0.54 -6.59 on Left in OA patients. Inter Group comparison of various reproduced angles of Right & left normal knee to those with all KL Grades were insignificant (p>.05). Percentiles values of normal population for right and Left Knee for all reproducible angles of all test angles showed normal ‘S’ curve and ROC showed 50% area under the curve. Conclusions: Caution need to be exercised before concluding on proprioception impairment in OA knee patients.