Is radiographic severity of knee osteoarthritis important for detecting differences in physical performance and isokinetic strength?

Abstract

Objective: To investigate the significance of the severity of knee osteoarthritis in physical function measures and isokinetic strength. Material and Methods: Females were included if they were between 50-65 years old, had radiological evidence of grade 2 (n=27) and grade 3 (n=26) osteoarthritis according to the Kellgren-Lawrence criteria, and were volunteers. Patients were excluded if they had knee osteoarthritis secondary to inflammatory arthritis, had significant morbidity that would preclude their undertaking the tests, had participated in any physical activity program in the previous 6 months, and had a knee operation. Knee pain with rest/activity, chair stand test, up-and-go test, stair ascent and descent time, and isokinetic concentric knee flexor and extensor peak torque at 90°/s, 120°/s, 180°/s, and 300°/s speed were assessed. Results: All females had bilateral tibiofemoral and patellofemoral osteoarthritis. There were no differences between the groups according to age, body mass index, pain duration, visual analog scale with movement and rest, or isokinetic strength at different speeds. The performance of the stair descent time and up-and-go tests was better in the grade 2 group than grade 3 group (p<0.05). Conclusion: It is known that the decrement of physical function accelerates with the increment of the severity of knee osteoarthritis. In this study, we found that the severity of knee osteoarthritis affected the stair descent time and up and go test.