Functional capacity and early radiographic osteoarthritis in middle-aged people with chronic knee pain

Background and Purpose In order to improve the physiotherapeutic treatment of patients with long‐standing knee pain, it it important to identify osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee at an early stage. The aim of the present study was to test the value of single functional measurement variables with the f...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Physiotherapy research international : the journal for researchers and clinicians in physical therapy 1998, Vol.3 (3), p.153-163
Main Authors: Larsson, Ann-Charlotte, Petersson, Ingemar, Ekdahl, Charlotte
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Chronic Disease
Female
functional capacity
Humans
Knee Joint - diagnostic imaging
Male
Middle Aged
osteoarthritis
Osteoarthritis, Knee - diagnosis
Osteoarthritis, Knee - diagnostic imaging
Osteoarthritis, Knee - physiopathology
Pain - etiology
performance tests
Postural Balance
prediction
Radiography
Sensitivity and Specificity
Walking
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Summary:Background and Purpose In order to improve the physiotherapeutic treatment of patients with long‐standing knee pain, it it important to identify osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee at an early stage. The aim of the present study was to test the value of single functional measurement variables with the focus on the lower extremities for the association to early radiographic signs of OA of the knee. The classification by Ahlbäck grade I (joint space narrowing) was used in a cohort of 204 individuals aged 35–54 years with long‐standing knee pain. Methods The following five selected tests were employed: three tests of static and dynamic balance (Balance I–III); one test of muscle strength (one‐leg‐rising‐test, OLR); and one test of walking ability (time for walking 300 m indoors). Odds ratios (ORs) were calculated with a 95% confidence interval. Results and Conclusions Results revealed that the selected tests of functional capacity due to rather low sensitivity (0.15–0.81), specificity (0.21–0.86) and inconclusive odds ratios (0.78–1.62) are probably of limited value as assessment tools to find radiographic knee OA in a younger population with mild OA. However, it is also possible to conclude that in middle‐aged individuals with chronic knee pain, the diagnosis of radiographic OA is not related to the functional capacity as measured in the present study. Copyright © 1998 Whurr Publishers Ltd.
ISSN:1358-2267
1471-2865
DOI:10.1002/pri.137