ABSTRACT

Introduction: Osteoarthritis of the knee belongs to the diseases with the greatest disability. The changes caused by osteoarthritis seriously affect the stability of the knee joint. Joint stability is affected by muscle strength, proprioception and ligament laxity. The importance of the use of proprioceptive exercises in therapy in persons with osteoarthritis of the knee has been recognized. Nevertheless, there is currently no widely accepted measure of clinical outcome aimed at neuromuscular control of patients with osteoarthritis of the knee.

Aim: The aim of this study was to evaluate the reliability of the Y-balance test as a reliable indicator for measuring dynamic stability in people with osteoarthritis of the knee and to determine the impact of therapeutic proprioception exercises on increasing dynamic stability in people with osteoarthritis of the knee.

Materials and methods: The study was conducted on a group of 19 subjects, patients with osteoarthritis of the knee. A Y-balance test modeled on the SEBT test was used in the study. Measurement by Y-balance test was performed 3 times. The first and second measurements calculated the reliability of the Y-balance test by the Test-retest method, while the second and third measurements assessed the impact of therapeutic proprioception exercises on dynamic stability in people with osteoarthritis of the knee. Respondents were divided into two groups in the second and third measurements. The experimental group of subjects had a 10-day physical therapy that included standard therapeutic exercises and proprioceptive exercises, while the control group had a standard exercise program for knee osteoarthritis. In both groups of subjects, TENS therapy was applied to both knees for 15 minutes.

Results: The result of the Pearson correlation coefficient for the composite score of the left foot is 0.93 and the right 0.97. The correlation is positive, very high and statistically significant with a risk of less than 1% (p <0.01). The combined program of standard and proprioceptive exercises had a statistically significant effect on increasing the dynamic stability measured by the Y-balance test with a risk of less than 1% (p <0.01). The standard exercise program had a statistically significant effect on increasing the dynamic stability measured by the Y-balance test with a risk of less than 5% (p <0.05). Comparing the control and experimental groups, the results of the Y-balance test did not show a significant difference between the groups (p <0.05).

Conclusion: The Y-balance test modeled on SEBT can be reliably used as a good indicator of dynamic stability in a composite measurement result in persons with osteoarthritis of the knee. Although there is no statistically significant difference in improvement between the groups, the experimental group showed a slightly higher percentage of results than the control group. If the research was conducted on a larger group of subjects and after several days of therapeutic treatment, it is possible that the results would be statistically significantly higher in the subjects of the experimental group.

Key words: Y-balance test, physical therapy, proprioceptive exercises, osteoarthritis of the knee