J Korean Acad Rehabil Med.  2006 Apr;30(2):158-162.

A Weight Loading Device as a Method for Assessment of Unilateral Knee Pain

• Kim KH
• Kang YK
• Jo HS
• Kim DH
• Hwang MR
• Shin JY
• Han HC
• Min SS

Abstract

OBJECTIVE
To identify the effectiveness of a weight loading device as a method for assessment of unilateral knee pain. METHOD: Twenty-five patients with unilateral knee pain and 25 pain-free controls participated in this study. Patients with a score of 2 or more on modified Kellgren-Lawrence scale based on the radiologic findings were diagnosed as degenerative arthritis. We constructed a device of segmental foot plates with strain gauge weight sensors to measure the weight load of each leg during self-selected walking speed. Using this device, we obtained the ratio of symptomatic side to asymptomatic side of weight load (RATIO) for each patient. The degree of pain according to visual analogue scale (VAS), abnormalities in radiologic findings, and weight load ratio were compared with each other.
RESULTS
The RATIO was 1.00+/-0.03 in the control group, and 0.92+/-0.08 in the patient group (p<0.05). In the patient group, there was a significant correlation between RATIO and the VAS score (r=-0.44, p=0.03). In the patient group with degenerative arthritis, the RATIO (p=0.75) and VAS (p=0.94) were not different from those in patient group without degenerative arthritis.
CONCLUSION
The foot plate weight loading device may be an effective tool for convenient measurements of knee pain.

Keyword

Knee; Pain; Weight loading device; Visual analogue scale

MeSH Terms

Foot
Humans
Knee*
Leg
Osteoarthritis
Walking