title: Exercise Alters Gait Pattern but Not Knee Load in Patients with Knee Osteoarthritis.
abstract: Six female patients with bilateral medial knee OA and 6 healthy controls were recruited. Patients with knee OA received a 6-week physiotherapist-supervised and home-based exercise program. Outcome measures, including the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Arthritis Index and Short Form-36 Health Survey as well as objective biomechanical indices were obtained at baseline and follow-up. After treatment, no significant difference was observed in the knee abductor moment (KAM), lever arm, and ground reaction force. We, however, observed significantly improved pain and physical function as well as altered gait patterns, including a higher hip flexor moment and hip extension angle with a faster walking speed. Although KAM was unchanged, patients with bilateral knee OA showed an improved walking speed and altered the gait pattern after 6 weeks of supervised exercise. This finding suggests that the exercise intervention improves proximal joint mechanics during walking and can be considered for patients with bilateral knee OA. Non-weight-bearing strengthening without external resistance combined with stretching exercise may be an option to improve pain and function in individuals with OA who cannot perform high resistance exercises owing to pain or other reasons.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Shin Kong Wu Ho-Su Memorial Hospital, Taipei 111, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Ssu-Yu
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-9930-1975
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.affiliation: Graduate Institute of Biomedical Engineering, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Taipei 106, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Yi-Jia
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: Graduate Institute of Biomedical Engineering, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Taipei 106, Taiwan; National Defense Medical Center, Taipei 114, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Wei-Chun
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-6018-8680
authors.initials: WC
authors.lastname: Hsu
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Shin Kong Wu Ho-Su Memorial Hospital, Taipei 111, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Lin-Fen
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-0869-5973
authors.initials: LF
authors.lastname: Hsieh
authors.affiliation: Department of Electronic and Computer Engineering, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Taipei 106, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Yuan-Hsiang
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-0630-7313
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: Graduate Institute of Biomedical Engineering, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Taipei 106, Taiwan; Department of Electronic and Computer Engineering, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Taipei 106, Taiwan; Graduate Institute of Applied Science and Technology, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Taipei 106, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Chao-Chin
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Shin Kong Wu Ho-Su Memorial Hospital, Taipei 111, Taiwan.
authors.forename: You-Cai
authors.initials: YC
authors.lastname: Chou
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Shin Kong Wu Ho-Su Memorial Hospital, Taipei 111, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Li-Fei
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-6894-5690
authors.initials: LF
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D000222:Adaptation, Physiological; D000368:Aged; D018771:Arthralgia / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D005081:Exercise Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D005684:Gait; D006801:Humans; D007719:Knee Joint / Q000503:physiopathology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D020370:Osteoarthritis, Knee / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000628:therapy*; D016059:Range of Motion, Articular; D055070:Resistance Training; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D016474:Weight-Bearing