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Perceived personal impact and selected gait features of knee osteoarthritis among active older women with mildmoderate radiographic disease: extent, interrelationships and implications

Ray Marks

Background: Factors other than pain that may impact the disease experience of adults with mild to moderate manifestations of knee osteoarthritis are poorly documented. Objective: To examine the extent of the association between selected gait parameters and the overall perceptual experience of women with mild to moderate knee osteoarthritis Method: The relationship between the emergent gait correlates of interest among 18 women, selected randomly from a cohort of 71 knee osteoarthritis cases, and their Arthritis Impact Measurement Scale scores were assessed on a single occasion using standard procedures. Results: 1. There was a strong inverse association between the subject’s impact scores and their selfpaced walking speed records, as well as their stride length scores (p<0.05). 2. Those who could walk further in a period of six minutes tended to be less impacted by the disease than those who walked shorter distances (p<0.05). 3. The strongest predictor of self-assessed arthritis impact was the stride length measure (r=-.65) 4. Those with asymmetrical gait features had worse impact scores, as well as gait parameter scores. Conclusion: Careful gait assessments, and efforts to optimize stride length and gait symmetry, may help to reduce the aversive impact of knee osteoarthritis in mild-moderate cases. Keywords: disease impact • gait asymmetry • gait cycle • knee joint • osteoarthritis