Efeitos do sexo, da severidade e da velocidade nos parâmetros espaço-temporais e angulares e na variabilidade dos parâmetros angulares da marcha em pessoas com osteoartrite de joelho

Abstract

Osteoarthritis (AO) is the most common musculoskeletal disease in the world and the knee is the most affected joint. Women have twice the risk of developing knee osteoarthritis and the effect that sex and severity of knee osteoarthritis (OAJ) would have on spatiotemporal parameters and angular variability, and their relationship with clinical measures are still uncertain. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect that sex and severity of OAJ would have on spatiotemporal parameters and angular variability during gait at different speeds, and to correlate them with muscle strength and the perception of pain and physical function. Forty-two OAJ individuals and 19 healthy people underwent the application of the visual analogue pain scale (VAS) and Western Ontario and McMaster Universities (WOMAC), evaluation of muscle strength and kinematics of gait on a treadmill at three speeds: comfortable, 20% higher and 20% lower than the comfortable speed. The results revealed that there was no effect of sex or severity on the range of motion of lower limb joints or on angular variability in the sagittal plane. However, there was some effect of severity on clinical measures (EVA and WOMAC) and on muscle strength assessment, but there was an effect of sex on these measures and on step length. Women had shorter stride length, greater stiffness, worse physical function and less muscle strength than men, with a significant correlation between these variables, indicating that the focus on rehabilitation should be on reducing pain and increasing muscle strength and joint mobility.