Sex differences of knee joint repositioning accuracy in healthy adolescents

Abstract

Introduction Sex differences in the knee joint have long been known and impaired proprioceptive accuracy is an important risk factor that could be associated with knee joint injury. This study was conducted to compare the accuracy of knee repositioning between healthy male and female adolescents. Participants and methods A total of 64 healthy adolescents (32 males, 32 females) aging from 15 to 18 years participated in this study. Active angle repositioning test was used to assess the proprioceptive accuracy of the right knee joint at 45° knee flexion by using a Biodex system 3 pro-isokinetic dynamometer. Results The statistical analysis revealed that the repositioning accuracy of the knee joint was significantly lower in female participants than in males, as the mean values of repositioning errors were 3.54 ± 1.20 for males and 4.76 ± 1.29 for females (P < 0.05). Conclusion Sex-based difference in the accuracy of knee joint proprioception may imply that knee proprioceptive sensitivity might potentially contribute to the high incidence of knee injury in females compared with males, particularly during adolescence.