Joint position sense impairments in older adults with carpometacarpal osteoarthritis: A descriptive comparative study

Abstract

Study DesignThis study has a descriptive-comparative, cross-sectional design. IntroductionSensorimotor (SM) impairments have been observed after common wrist and hand injuries such as distal radius fractures. However, there is a lack of research regarding SM impairments in patients with carpometacarpal (CMC) osteoarthritis (OA). Purpose of the StudyThis study sought to quantify proprioception deficits in older adults with CMC OA as compared with healthy adults using the joint position sense (JPS) test. MethodsThe active JPS test was used to measure proprioception function in 29 thumbs with CMC OA and their 29 matched-control healthy counterparts. For comparison, participants with unilateral CMC OA were matched against themselves, whereas those with lateral CMC OA were age matched with a healthy participant. Data analysis was performed to compute the mean error of JPS; an unpaired t test was used to compare the mean error of the non–CMC OA group with the healthy control group. ResultsThe mean positional error measured from subjects with CMC OA was 9.53° compared with 1.32° for the age-matched healthy subjects. The effect size for the difference in means was D = 1.96. ConclusionsThumb SM impairments were found to be greater in subjects with CMC OA than in their healthy counterparts when using the JPS test to assess proprioception.