Neuromuscular Control in Knee Osteoarthritis (NEKO)

Martijn Steultjens

Status: Completed

Conditions: Osteoarthritis Knee

Study type: Observational

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT02314715

GCU_MSK_SS_001

Details and patient eligibility

About

Arthritis is one of the most prevailing causes of disability with knee osteoarthritis (KOA) the most common form. The lifetime risk of developing symptomatic KOA by the age of 85 years is 44.7%, where females are at a greater risk (1.8 times) than male counter parts. KOA is the leading cause of limitations in activities of daily living such as walking and climbing stairs particularly in the elderly. This is primarily due to pain and instability of the joint resulting in buckling of knees caused by muscle weakness, joint stiffness and damage. Patients with KOA have larger variations in muscle strength and are unable to maintain a target force combined with impaired ability to perceive joint movement and positioning suggests impaired neuromuscular control (NC) may influence KOA. NC refers to the nervous system's control over muscle activation contributing to task performance. This study aims to establish the role of loss of NC in biomechanical determinants and health outcomes of KOA.

Enrollment: 95 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 40+ years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

Knee osteoarthritis participants only:

• Knee Osteoarthritis confirmed by a physician using the American College of Rheumatology (ACR 1986) Criteria
• Have unilateral or bilateral knee osteoarthritis
• Aged 40 years or over.

Healthy control participants only:

• Have no history of unilateral/bilateral knee osteoarthritis
• Had no current chronic/stable knee pain in the past 3 months
• Aged 40 years or over.

Exclusion criteria

All participants are excluded if they:

• Have neuromuscular skeletal injury/illness (e.g.Multiple Sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, Muscular Dystrophy, Cerebral Palsy)
• Have had knee surgery, knee arthroplastic surgery and arthroscopic debridement or corrective surgery for knee osteoarthritis in the past 12 months
• Have had corticosteroid injections to or around the knee in the past 3 months.
• Have unstable heart disease
• Previously had a stroke
• Have insulin-dependent diabetes
• Have osteoporosis
• Have a history of falls and other motor deficits
• Are unable to walk up and down stairs
• Are unable to rise from a chair without the aid of another person
• Have an unstable medication schedule and medication that causes dizziness
• Have Dementia/Alzheimer's/ an inability to comprehend, follow instructions and give informed consent
• Have an inability to lie flat for 60 minutes Have mental in their body.

Trial design

95 participants in 2 patient groups

Knee Osteoarthritis

Description:

Participants with diagnosed knee osteoarthritis

Controls

Description:

Participants without knee osteoarthritis