The effects of pain on quadriceps strength, joint proprioception and dynamic balance among women aged 65 to 75 years with knee osteoarthritis

BACKGROUND: Patients with knee osteoarthritis (OA) were reported to have quadriceps weakness, and impaired proprioception, both related to pain and swelling. It is unclear whether pain alone a causal factor to above findings over the knee joint. The purpose of this study was to assess the effects of knee pain alone on the quadriceps strength, proprioception and dynamic balance in subjects with bilateral knee OA without joint swelling. METHODS: Fourty females with mean age of 68.3 years were involved in this cross-sectional study. The inclusion criteria were bilateral knee OA without joint swelling, with a visual analogue pain scale difference (> 1) between each knee. Patients all underwent assessment of the isokinetic strength of knee muscles, knee proprioceptive acuity, and dynamic balance. RESULTS: Patients’ more painful knee had weaker isokinetic quadriceps strength than less painful knee at both 60 °/s and 180 °/s (p = 0.01, p = 0.01, respectively). There were no differences in proprioceptive acuity between both knees in all three knee positions. Meanwhile, there was a significant difference in the dynamic balance index measurement between both knees (more painful versus less painful: 3.88 ± 1.15 vs. 3.30 ± 1.00, p = 0.01). Quadriceps strength was associated with dynamic balance stability (60 °/s, r = − 0.578, p < 0.01; 180 °/s, r = − 0.439, p < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: For patients with knee OA, the more painful knee was associated with weaker quadriceps and poor balance ability. To improve lower limb function and balance stability of the older persons having knee OA, physicians should take the optimal pain management strategy. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1186/s12877-018-0932-y) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.