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).
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).
University sports medicine research laboratory.
Subjects (N=52) with radiographically determined, minimal-to-moderate medial knee OA.
Neoprene knee sleeve and SR electrical stimulation.
COP displacement in the medial-lateral and anterior-posterior directions was collected to resolve the mean velocity, SD, range, and total path length.
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.
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.