title: The assessment of postural control with stochastic resonance electrical stimulation and a neoprene knee sleeve in the osteoarthritic knee.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine whether the combination of stochastic resonance (SR) electrical stimulation and a neoprene knee sleeve could improve center of pressure (COP) measures of postural sway during single-leg stance in those with knee osteoarthritis (OA).
  
  
  METHODS
  Counterbalanced, repeated-measures intervention study of osteoarthritic adults during 6 different testing conditions: a control condition-control 1 (1); a counterbalance sequence of 4 treatment conditions-no stimulation with sleeve (2), 75% stimulation with sleeve (3), 100% stimulation with sleeve (4), and 150% stimulation with sleeve (5); and a second control condition-control 2 (6).
  
  
  METHODS
  University sports medicine research laboratory.
  
  
  METHODS
  Subjects (N=52) with radiographically determined, minimal-to-moderate medial knee OA.
  
  
  METHODS
  Neoprene knee sleeve and SR electrical stimulation.
  
  
  METHODS
  COP displacement in the medial-lateral and anterior-posterior directions was collected to resolve the mean velocity, SD, range, and total path length.
  
  
  RESULTS
  No significant differences were found in the study measures between the testing conditions. Additionally, no significant differences were found between the 3 stimulation conditions or between the sleeve-alone and stimulation conditions for any of the study measures.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  There were no significant improvements in balance with the use of a neoprene knee sleeve. Additionally, there was no added benefit of the SR stimulation as applied in the current configuration in this population.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA. atcollin@udel.edu
authors.forename: Amber T
authors.initials: AT
authors.lastname: Collins
authors.forename: J Troy
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Blackburn
authors.forename: Chris W
authors.initials: CW
authors.lastname: Olcott
authors.forename: Joanne M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Jordan
authors.forename: Bing
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.forename: Paul S
authors.initials: PS
authors.lastname: Weinhold
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001915:Braces; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D004599:Electric Stimulation Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D005684:Gait / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D020370:Osteoarthritis, Knee / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D004856:Postural Balance / Q000502:physiology*; D011434:Proprioception / Q000502:physiology; D012016:Reference Values; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013269:Stochastic Processes