Objective: To determine frequency of knee osteoarthritis (OA) and its association with hip abductor muscle strength and difficulty during ascending and descending stairs among osteoarthritis patients.
Methodology: This cross sectional study was conducted on 167 female patients presenting with knee OA in different hospitals of Lahore. We used a standard knee osteoarthritis-linked health assessment survey, WOMAC Osteoarthritis Index. Muscular strength of hip abductors was investigated using manual muscle testing grading system. Data were analyzed using SPSS 21.
Results: Mean age of patients was 58.33+8.836 year (range 45-82). We found 91(54.5%) patients had left knee, 63(37.7%) right knee and 13(7.8%) had bilateral knee OA. Positive association was seen between knee OA with difficulty while climbing stairways (p=0.018) and also with strength of hip abductors (p=0.001). However, no significant association existed between OA of knee and difficulty while moving down stairs (p=0.073).
Conclusion: The knee OA was frequent among female patients. There was positive association between knee OA and difficulty while ascending staircase but no significant relation exist between OA of knee and trouble during going down steps. An association between knee OA and strength of hip abductor muscles was found, which showed that in knee OA, hip abductors i.e., gluteus medius were more prone to weakness as compared to others hip muscles in this study.
Key words: Knee osteoarthritis, pain intensity, muscle strength.
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