Muscle Property, Alignment and Joint Loading in People With Knee Osteoarthritis

Not Applicable

Completed

Brief Summary: Knee osteoarthritis (KOA) is a common chronic painful musculoskeletal condition among older adults. It poses great challenge to the health care system due to its inability to be cured. Understanding factors associated with disease progression in KOA should assist the development of novel prevention/rehabilitation strategies. This study investigate factors including muscle properties, lower limb alignment and joint loading in patients with knee osteoarthritis before and after a six-week exercise program.

Recruitment & Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria

Age between 50-80
having radiographic tibiofemoral joint OA in the medial compartment defined as Kellgren and Lawrence grade = 2 to 3
having medial knee pain on most days of the month
having a minimum average pain score of 2 on an 11-point numerical rating scale in the past week while walking

Exclusion Criteria

having lateral tibiofemoral compartment osteophytes greater than the medial side.
having undergone intra-articular corticosteroid injection or knee surgery to either knee within the past 3 months
having a systemic arthritic condition (e.g., rheumatoid arthritis)
having a knee joint replacement or high tibial osteotomy in the past
having any other muscular, joint or neurological condition influencing lower limb function
unable to walk unaided
having low back, hip, ankle or foot pain > 3 on numerical rating scale
having a body mass index (BMI) >36 kg/ m2

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
Exercise	Exercise	Six-week exercise including stretching, strengthening, endurance and gait modification

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Change of External Knee Adduction Moment as Assessed by Visual Motion Analysis System	At baseline and one week after intervention	External knee moment in the frontal plane during early stance phase of walking

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Change of Young's Modulus of Quadriceps as Assessed by Ultrasound Elastography	At baseline and one week after intervention	Young's modulus by ultrasound elastography
Change of Pain Severity Score as Assessed by Knee Injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score	At baseline and one week after intervention	Pain intensity measured by the pain subscale of Knee injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS). The minimum value is 0 and maximum value is 100. The higher scores mean a better outcome.
Tibial Torsion as Assessed by X-ray Imaging	At baseline	The angle between tibial and femur in the transverse plane