Effects of Short-term Whole Body Vibration Training on Knee Proprioception in Healthy Adults and People with Knee Osteoarthritis

Abstract

Introduction: many researches have studied the short and long term effects of whole body vibration on muscle strength and proprioception. The effect of this modality in athletes and healthy population have been studied by several researchers; however, to accept it as a therapeutic procedure, it needs more studies. In knee osteoarthritis, muscle weakness and joint instability can affect proprioception. Since some researchers reported the effect of whole body vibration on kinematic and neuromuscular control and some others have rejected this effect, the purpose of this study is to investigate the short term effect of whole body vibration on proprioception of the knee joint in patients with knee osteoarthritis and healthy individuals. Materials and Methods : In this experimental study, two groups of the same size (21 in healthy and patient groups) went through whole body vibration ( 60 Hz frequency, low amplitude and 25 Hz frequency , high amplitude) and the knee joint properioception accuracy was assessed ( by joint angle replication test) and was compared with the no-vibration baseline results. Results The joint angle reconstruction error was different between two groups and also before and after whole body vibration. Whole body vibration with 25Hz frequency and high Amplitude was ineffective in improvement of knee properioception in osteoarthritis patients (p=0.09). But the vibration with 60 Hz and low amplitude was effective significantly in properiception improvement and decrease of joint angle reconstruction error in healthy (p=0.01) and patients groups. (p=0.02). Discussion: This study shows that the whole body vibration with proper frequency and amplitude (60 Hz and low amplitude) can have immediate effect on the knee joint properioception in patients with knee osteoarthritis and healthy people. Key words: Whole Body Vibration; Knee; Osteoarthritis; Properioception