More Predictable and Less Automatized Movements during Walking -not during Repetitive Punching- in Knee Osteoarthritis

Abstract

Using the non-affected leg as stable frame of reference for the affected leg in gait assessment in knee osteoarthritis (KO) fails due to compensatory mechanisms. Assessing the cyclical movements of the upper extremities in a frequency-controlled repetitive punching task may provide an alternative frame of reference in gait assessment in patients with KO. Eleven participants with unilateral KO and eleven healthy controls were asked to perform treadmill walking and repetitive punching. The KO group showed more predictable (p = 0.020) and less automatized (p = 0.007) movement behavior than controls during treadmill walking. During repetitive punching, the KO group showed a similar degree of predictability (p = 0.784) but relative more automatized movement behavior (p = 0.013). Thus, the predictability of the movement behavior of the upper extremities during repetitive punching seems unaffected by KO and could provide an alternative frame of reference in gait assessment in patients with KO.

Keywords:

• knee osteoarthritis
• sample entropy
• spectral slope
• treadmill walking
• repetitive punching

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 Despite the fact that we recognize that unilateral KO affects both legs we keep referring in this article to the affected and non-affected legs for legibility reasons.

2 KO participants were recruited via an orthopedic surgeon within the context of a long-term longitudinal clinical study of motor rehabilitation processes following knee replacement surgery. Given the implications of KO on the daily activities, we decided to separately examine the effects of KO and in a next stage the effects of total knee arthroplasty on the movement behavior.

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.