Effect of age and osteoarthritis on knee proprioception

Abstract

Objective. To test the hypotheses that 1) knee position sense declines with age; 2) patients with osteoarthritis (OA) have worse knee position sense than elderly controls; and 3) knee position sense is correlated with functional status.Methods. The threshold for detection of knee joint displacement was measured in 30 patients with bilateral knee OA (Kellgren/Lawrence grade 2 2 in both knees), 29 elderly controls (who met clinical and radiographic criteria for exclusion of OA), and 25 young controls. Range of motion, laxity, radiographic severity, and functional status were also assessed.Results. A moderate correlation was found between joint displacement detection threshold and age (r = 0.598 and r = 0.501 for the right knee and the left knee, respectively). The threshold was substantially and significantly different between the OA patients and the elderly controls. Proprioceptive impairment was associated with worse disease-specific functional status.Conclusion. Proprioception declines with age, and is further impaired in elderly patients with knee OA. Poor proprioception may contribute to functional impairment in knee OA.Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most common form of arthritis in humans, affecting 15.8 million Americans (1). The knee is the site of involvement most commonly associated with disability (2,3). The prevalence of knee O A increases with age (3). Several factors appear to be

Physical functioning over three years in knee osteoarthritis: Role of psychosocial, local mechanical, and neuromuscular factors

“…A relationship between proprioceptive inaccuracy assessed at study baseline and physical function over the ensuing years has not previously been reported. Proprioceptive accuracy declines with age (13), was worse in persons with OA even in their nonarthritic knee than in healthy elderly subjects (10), and was correlated with physical function in cross-sectional studies of knee OA (13,(39)(40)(41). The results of the current study are noteworthy, especially since this was a passive test; dynamic jointposition sense inaccuracy may play a greater role in physical tasks and activities and more strongly predict physical function outcome.…”

“…Proprioceptive inaccuracy was measured as the difference between actual knee-motion onset and the participant's detection of motion, using a previously described apparatus and protocol that provide computer-controlled, passive, angular knee motion at 0.3°per second and a precise measurement of angular displacement (10,13). Visual, auditory, vibration, cutaneous tension, and pressure cues to limb motion were eliminated.…”

“…The possible range of the physical function scale is 0-68, and a higher score indicates worse function. The WOMAC scores were categorized using quintiles of the MAK cohort at baseline, ranging from individuals with the best WOMAC function scores to those with the worst function, as follows: first quintile (WOMAC 0-7), second quintile (WOMAC [8][9][10][11][12][13][14], third quin-tile (WOMAC [15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22], fourth quintile (WOMAC 23-33), and fifth quintile (WOMAC Ͼ33).…”

“…There were several potential confounders in the age-physical function relationship. Strength and proprioceptive acuity are known to decline with age (13,25,26). Alternatively, an age effect might be due to less aerobic exercise, reduced self-efficacy, or greater comorbidity.…”

Effects of experimentally‐induced anterior knee pain on knee joint position sense in healthy individuals

“…However, while pain is a consistent feature in many musculoskeletal knee conditions, it is difficult to isolate the effects of nociceptive and pain stimulation on knee joint proprioception from other features associated with pathology such as inflammation or altered joint and muscle function. Although one study found a correlation between average magnitude of pain and knee joint position sense (JPS) in individuals with osteoarthritic knees [26], this study did not assess pain at the time of JPS assessment. Previous research suggests the hypothesis that pain at the time of JPS testing may interfere with the perception of the position of the painful knee.…”