Do individuals with knee osteoarthritis walk with distinct knee biomechanics and muscle activation characteristics? An investigation of knee osteoarthritis, hip osteoarthritis, and asymptomatic groups.

Background: Biomechanical markers including reductions in sagittal plane kinematics and moments, increases in knee adduction moments (KAM), and altered muscle activations have been identified as hallmark indicators of knee osteoarthritis (OA). However, it remains unknown whether these features of knee OA gait are exclusive to the diseased joint.

Research Question: To determine whether specific gait outcomes previously linked to symptomatic medial compartment knee OA are unique to knee OA by concurrently investigating a group of asymptomatic individuals and those with hip OA.

The effect of a frontal plane gait perturbation bout on knee biomechanics and muscle activation in older adults and individuals with knee osteoarthritis.

Background: Walking can be a challenging task for individuals with knee osteoarthritis and many older adults. The purpose was to determine the immediate effect of a frontal plane perturbation bout during walking on knee biomechanics and muscle activation patterns in these groups.

Methods: 44 asymptomatic older adults and 32 individuals with knee osteoarthritis were recruited.

Association Between Knee Joint Muscle Activation and Knee Joint Moment Patterns During Walking in Moderate Medial Compartment Knee Osteoarthritis: Implications for Secondary Prevention.

Objective: To determine associations between knee moment features linked to osteoarthritis (OA) progression, gait muscle activation patterns, and strength.

Design: Cross-sectional secondary analysis.

Setting: Gait laboratory.

Differences in Baseline Joint Moments and Muscle Activation Patterns Associated With Knee Osteoarthritis Progression When Defined Using a Clinical Versus a Structural Outcome.

Both structural and clinical changes can signify knee osteoarthritis progression; however, these changes are not always concurrent. A better understanding of mechanical factors associated with progression and whether they differ for structural versus clinical outcomes could lead to improved conservative management. This study examined baseline gait differences between progression and no progression groups defined at an average of 7-year follow-up using 2 different outcomes indicative of knee osteoarthritis progression: radiographic medial joint space narrowing and total knee arthroplasty.

Baseline Gait Muscle Activation Patterns Differ for Osteoarthritis Patients Who Undergo Total Knee Arthroplasty Five to Eight Years Later From Those Who Do Not.

Objective: To determine if baseline quadriceps and hamstrings muscle activity patterns differed between those with medial-compartment knee osteoarthritis (OA) who advanced to total knee arthroplasty (TKA) and those who did not advance to TKA, and to examine associations between features extracted from principal component analysis (PCA) and discrete measures.

Methods: Surface electromyograms of the vastus lateralis and medialis, rectus femoris, and lateral and medial hamstrings during walking were collected from 54 individuals with knee OA. Amplitude and temporal characteristics from PCA, co-contraction indices (CCI) for lateral and medial muscle pairs, and root mean square (RMS) amplitudes for early, mid, late, and overall stance were calculated from electromyographic waveforms.