Background: Osteoarthritis is one of the most common diseases in synovial
joints. Due to high loading forces during weight-bearing activities, the knee joint
is prone to degenerative processes. This study aimed to compare the flexibility
of muscles around the knee joint in patients with knee osteoarthritis with those
of healthy individuals.
Methods: Twenty-three women with bilateral knee osteoarthritis and 23 healthy
women matched with the patient group for age, height and weight participated
in this study. Flexibility of the quadriceps, hamstring, iliotibial band, adductor
and gastrocnemius muscles was evaluated with a goniometric device. Pain
intensity was assessed with a visual analogue scale. The data were analyzed
with independent t-tests to compare the two groups, and Pearson correlation
coefficient was calculated to correlate muscle flexibility and pain intensity.
Results: significant lower flexibility of the bilateral quadriceps muscles was found
in patients compared to healthy women (P<0.05). No significant differences
were detected between groups regarding other muscles. Quadriceps flexibility
correlated significantly with pain intensity in patients (P<0.001).
Conclusion: In patients with osteoarthritis, quadriceps flexibility may be
decreased although other muscles may remain unaffected. Quadriceps stretching
is thus a potentially important component of treatment, which may influence
pain reduction in these patients