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Proprioception, laxity, muscle strength and activity limitations in early symptomatic knee osteoarthritis: results
Jasmijn F M Holla1, Marike van der Leeden, Wilfred F H Peter
1Amsterdam Rehabilitation Research Center Reade, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. j.holla@reade.nl
Objective:
To establish whether proprioception and varus-valgus laxity moderate the association between muscle strength and activity limitations in patients with early symptomatic knee osteoarthritis.
Design:
A cross-sectional study.
Subjects:
A sample of 151 participants with early symptomatic knee osteoarthritis from the Cohort Hip and Cohort Knee study.
Methods:
Regression analyses were performed to establish the associations between muscle strength, proprioception (knee joint motion detection threshold in the anterior--posterior direction), varus-valgus laxity and activity limitations (self-reported and performance-based). Interaction terms were used to establish whether proprioception and laxity moderated the association between muscle strength and activity limitations.
Results:
Proprioception moderated the association between muscle strength and activity limitations: the negative association between muscle strength and activity limitations was stronger in participants with poor proprioception than in participants with accurate proprioception (performance-based activity limitations p = 0.02; self-reported activity limitations p = 0.08). The interaction between muscle strength and varus-valgus laxity was not significantly associated with activity limitations.
Conclusion:
The results of the present study support the theory that in the absence of adequate proprioceptive input, lower muscle strength affects a patient's level of activities to a greater degree than in the presence of adequate proprioceptive input.
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