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Dual-task Gait Performance in People With Knee Osteoarthritis Before and After Knee Replacement Surgery

Dual-task Gait Performance in People With Knee Osteoarthritis Before and After Knee Replacement Surgery

Status
Completed
Phases
Unknown
Study type
Observational
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT04877873
Enrollment
38
Registered
2021-05-07
Start date
2020-10-19
Completion date
2022-08-01
Last updated
2023-05-12

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Osteoarthritis, Knee

Keywords

Total knee replacement, Cognitive load, Gait, Proprioception, Dual task

Brief summary

Knee Osteoarthritis (OA) is one of the most common conditions causing disability and limitation in the elderly population, with 13% of women and 10% of men over the age of 60 suffering from symptomatic knee osteoarthritis. Pain and other symptoms of OA significantly affect the quality of life, manifesting itself in pain, decreased range of motion, functional limitation and change in gait patterns. Total Knee Replacement Surgery (TKR) is the most common solution for patients with advanced cartilage erosion and is considered a successful surgery with high satisfaction rates (about 80%). The surgery becomes necessary when pain limits the daily functioning and impairs the quality of life and after the failure of conservative treatment. Still, patients undergoing TKR suffer in the first period after surgery from pain, decreased balance and proprioceptive impairment. Despite the improvement in pain and function, the rates of falls after surgery do not change drastically and remain high. About a third of older adults fall each year, leading to fractures, functional decline and in some cases death. Walking is a complex task, and with advancing age walking becomes less automatic and requires additional attention. Among adults, it is known that an increased risk of falls is associated with reduced ability to perform complex walking tasks, such as walking while talking or crossing obstacles. After TKR, most falls occur while walking due to slipping / tripping. In addition, proprioceptive impairment, pain and poor balance are associated with an increased risk of falling after TKR. The mechanism underlying these effects may be increased allocation of cognitive resources to walking. Thus, this study will examine the ability of people before and after TKR to perform complex walking tasks, in order to examine the change in attention allocation to walking following surgery. It is hypothesized that after surgery, the ability to walk while performing an additional task will be lower than prior to surgery.

Interventions

BEHAVIORALGait analysis pre- and post- surgery

None (observational)

Sponsors

Emek Medical Center
CollaboratorOTHER
University of Haifa
Lead SponsorOTHER

Study design

Observational model
CASE_ONLY
Time perspective
PROSPECTIVE

Eligibility

Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
65 Years to 90 Years
Healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

* Able to walk at least for 1 minute with no assistive device * Able to understand and complete simple instructions

Exclusion criteria

* Diagnosed dementia * Diseases impairing balance * Diagnosed rheumatoid arthritis

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Change in Gait speedOne month prior to surgery, 4.5 months post-surgeryChange in gait speed as measured using an instrumented mat
Change in gait variabilityOne month prior to surgery, 4.5 months post-surgeryChange in coefficient of variation of stride time and stride length, as measured using an instrumented mat

Secondary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Change in dynamic BalanceOne month prior to surgery, 4.5 months post-surgeryMini Balance Evaluation Systems Test (Mini-BesTest) is a functional test of dynamic balance. Scores range from 0 to 28, with better scores indicating better balance.
Change in balance self-efficacyOne month prior to surgery, 4.5 months post-surgeryThe Activities-specific Balance Confidence (ABC) Scale is a self-reported measure of balance self-efficacy. Ranging from 0 to 100, better scores indicate better balance self-efficacy
Change in Joint position senseOne month prior to surgery, 4.5 months post-surgeryEstimation of knee position using the Physiological Profile Assessment (PPA). Specifically, the difference between intended knee flexion angle and achieved flexion angle is calculated in degrees (worse performance is identified via larger difference)
Cognitive functionOne month prior to surgeryMontreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) is a test of cognitive function. Ranging from 0 to 30, better scores denote better cognitive function.
Change in movement reinvestmentOne month prior to surgery, 4.5 months post-surgeryMovement reinvestment will be measured using the Movement Specific Reinvestment Scale (MSRS), a self-report measure of conscious monitoring of movement. Scores range from 10 to 60, with higher scores denoting more conscious movement monitoring
Change in Pain, stiffness, physical functionOne month prior to surgery, 4.5 months post-surgeryThe Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC) Is a self-report questionnaire of pain, stiffness and physical function in people with knee osteoarthritis. Scores range 0-20 for pain, 0-8 for stiffness and 0-68 for physical function

Countries

Israel

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 4, 2026