Cycling Intervention on Symptoms of Patients With Knee Osteoarthritis

Overview

This study is designed to determine the effect of a cycling training program which modulates frontal and sagittal plane knee joint loading with graded increases of Q-Factor and cycling workrate in persons with symptomatic knee osteoarthritis.

The knee joint is one of the most common joints affected by osteoarthritis, and knee osteoarthritis is primarily observed in the medial compartment. This is in part attributable to the increased load experienced by the medial compartment during level walking. Patients with symptomatic knee osteoarthritis exhibit altered gait mechanics; namely a reduced loading response knee extension moment and an increased internal knee abduction moment. As a surrogate measure for medial compartment joint loading, loading response knee abduction moment in level walking has been shown to increase with the severity of knee osteoarthritis. Recent gait modification research has shown that increased step-width decreases peak Knee abduction moment for persons with knee osteoarthritis. The inter-pedal width of a bicycle or cycle ergometer, known as Q-Factor, is analogous in cycling to step-width in gait. In contrast to gait, increased Q-Factor has been shown to increase the knee abduction moment during stationary cycling. Modulating sagittal and frontal plane loading of the knee in a graded manner during cycling may promote healthy adaptation to muscle weakness and pain. This adaptation may be manifest through restoration of altered knee joint biomechanics (knee extension moment, knee abduction moment), which, in turn, may also provide benefit to gait mechanics.

Conditions

Interventions

Eligibility

Locations (1)

Outcomes

Central Contacts