RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN BALANCE AND PHYSICAL FUNCTION IN OLDER ADULTS WITH OSTEOARTHRITIS OF KNEE JOINT

Abstract

Background: OA knee is one of the commonest cause of disability in Elderly individuals which can cause functional decline and balance impairment which leads to difficulty in Activities of daily living hence this study was conducted to evaluate the balance and physical function in OA knee patients using simple clinical test so that the patients from the rural area can also evaluated where advanced measures are not available. METHOD: In this cross-sectional observational study, the participants were elderly in community and patients coming to OPD included in convenient sampling both male and female patients with OA knee joint.60 participants were assessed for Balance and Physical function using Mini-BEST and FTSTST respectively and co-relation between Balance and Physical function. RESULT: The results show that the balance and physical function was affected by the OA and the impact was greater according to the severity and also co-relation shows that as the balance impairment was more the ability to perform the physical function was reduced in OA knee patients