The effect of co-stabilizer muscle activation on knee joint position sense: a single group pre-post test

[Purpose] The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of co-stabilizer muscle activation on knee joint position sense. [Subjects and Methods] This study was a pre-post, single-blinded randomly controlled trial (angle sequence randomly selected) design. Seven healthy adults with no orthopaedic or neurological problems participated in this study. Knee joint position sense was measured by a target matching test at target angles of 30°, 45° and 80° of knee flexion a using digital inclinometer under two conditions: erect sitting, which is known to highly activate co-stabilizer muscle and slump sitting, which is known to little activate the co-stabilizer muscle. [Results] A significant difference in joint position matching error at the knee flexion angle of 45° was founded between two conditions erect sitting: (3.83 ± 1.47) and slump sitting: (1.00 ± 0.63). There were no significant differences in joint position matching error at the other target angles. [Conclusion] Knee joint position sense at 45° is likely to be affected by activation of co-stabilizer muscle, and this value is suitable for facilitation of joint position sense with skilled movement.