Assessment Of Knee And Ankle Proprioception In Young And Old Adults Using The AMEDA

Abstract

Proprioception is often associated with neuromuscular abilities and injury prevention in older persons. While several methods exist for testing proprioception, most instruments are impractical and assess joint position sense (JPS) in an artificial environment. The Active Movement Extent Discrimination Apparatus (AMEDA) offers a low-cost alternative to evaluate JPS in a natural standing environment. PURPOSE: To compare the active proprioception of the lower limbs and ankles in healthy young (YG) and older individuals (OG) using the AMEDA. METHODS: Forty-four persons (YG: n=22, OG: n=22) participated in the study. During lower limb (hip, knee) testing, participants were asked to touch a rear bar before kicking forward to strike a stop board placed at one of three positions (11cm, 16cm, 22cm). For the ankle, the foot was inverted to one of three angles (1=12o; 2=14o; 3=16o). Our testing included 3 conditions: condition 1 (C1=no difference between sequential positions), condition 2 (C2=minimal differences between sequential positions), and condition 3 (C3=maximal difference between sequential conditions). Participants were asked to identify all positions while blindfolded over the course of 50 trials. Two two-way ANOVA (condition) x (group) were used to examine the number of errors within each group at each joint position. RESULTS: The YG made significantly more errors than the OG for the left lower limb during C1 and C3 (p < .05). Furthermore, for the YG, the number of errors decreased from C1 through C3 (p<.05). The YG also produced significantly more errors than the OG in C1 for the left and right ankles (p<.05). The OG made more errors during C2 then any other condition for both ankles (p<.05). CONCLUSION: The YG made more JPS errors then the OG. These findings are contrary to the proposition that proprioception decreases with age. Based on these findings, older individuals appeared to be more aware of their knee and ankle joint positions. These differences may be attributed to the OG paying greater attention to their movement patterns during day to day activities as a precaution to reduce fall risk.