Abstract
The effectiveness of adding plantar-surface texture to improve balance has been demonstrated in a variety of demographics. It is critical to investigate whether textured insoles can improve balance in people with knee osteoarthritis (OA), who have compromised the somatosensory function of the affected joint and, as a result, are at a higher risk of falling. Thus, this study investigated the degree of benefit from the use of textured insoles for improving balance and compared the balance of people with knee OA to healthy matched peers. This study included eighteen people with knee OA and eighteen healthy, aged, gender, height, weight, and BMI matched controls who were assessed on balance using the sensory organization test and the motor control test. Balance was improved in both groups when the textured insoles were worn, and the healthy knee group demonstrated significantly better balance performance than the knee OA group. The benefits of this study for individuals with knee OA are that it may lead to the development of an evidence-based footwear intervention that is noninvasive, simple to use, and inexpensive, in addition to allowing the user to self-manage and the ability to reduce the risk of falls, thereby improving their quality of life.
Highlights
Fifty-two percent of adults 45 years of age and older in the United States have arthritis [1]
A regression was conducted to evaluate the interaction between groups to investigate if textured insoles produce greater improvements in knee OA groups
The findings of the balance performances with smooth insoles comparing the individuals with knee OA and the healthy knee controls showed that conditions 3, 5, and 6, Comp, VEST, and PMAN were significantly higher for healthy knee controls than individuals with knee OA
Summary
Fifty-two percent of adults 45 years of age and older in the United States have arthritis [1]. The knee with OA is characterized by pain, decreasing muscle strength in the lower limbs and abnormal somatosensations [9,10,11] and the abnormal somatosensory function can result in balance problems; previous research has demonstrated that loss of somatosensation has been linked to abnormal balance [12]. The combination of the factors such as pain, muscular weakness, and abnormal somatosensory function in individuals with knee OA reduce the capability of general balance function, and ability in initiating and correcting movements, resulting in limitation of the ability to perform functional activities of daily living such as rising from a chair, standing, walking, or climbing stairs [11,13,14]
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