The Effect of Lateral Wedge Insole for Knee Osteoarthritis Patient in Plantar Pressure, Quadriceps Thickness, Gait and Walking Speed: a Randomized Controlled Trial

Knee osteoarthritis is one of the most popular disease affected elderly people and made them discomfort. There was no study using foot pressure as a parameter about lateral wedge insole intervention for the knee osteoarthritis patient. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of lateral wedge insole for the patient of knee osteoarthritis. During total period of 12 weeks for the study, investigators randomized the patient into experimental and control group. Then investigators evaluated the patient's foot pressure, quadriceps thickness, stride length, stride width, walking speed, pain scale and daily function before intervention, 4th weeks, 8th weeks and 12th weeks. Investigators would use pressure insole designed in the Industrial Technology Research Institute in Taiwan. The portable device used in this study maybe suitable for evaluation of other lower limb disease. There were studies evaluating elderly people dysfunction, critical illness muscle atrophy or knee joint disease with ultrasound detected quadriceps thickness. But there was no study about the correlation between foot pressure and quadriceps thickness for evaluating the effect of lateral wedge insole. Investigators hoped to make a new model for evaluating lower limbs disorder in the future.