The purpose of this study was to identify predictors of performance on four functional tasks in adults with osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee.
Descriptive correlation.
A voluntary sample of 78 community dwelling adults who reported knee pain and were previously diagnosed with osteoarthritis of the knee were timed while they performed the functional tasks of going down and getting up off of the floor and ascending and descending a flight of stairs as quickly as possible. Subjects were also evaluated for their joint pain while performing these activities, their leg strength, perceptions of joint pain, stiffness, functional ability, and other health status information.
This study indicates that knee extension strength (quadriceps), joint pain during the activity, perceptions of functional ability and body weight combined can predict between 39% and 56% of the variance in the time to perform four functional tasks in adults with OA of the knee.
Interventions that improve quadriceps strength and reduce joint pain and body weight along with facilitating perceptions of functional ability may have a positive impact upon the ability to get down to and rise up off of the floor and ascend/descend stairs in adults with OA of the knee.