Background:                                                                                        

Knee osteoarthritis (OA) is a joint disease which results from breakdown of joint cartilage and underlying bone. Its most common symptoms are joint pain, stiffness, decreased range of motion, decreased muscle power. OA may cause problems in function and activities of daily living (ADL) in the affected patients. The objective of this study was to find the correlation between pain, balance and function in patients with knee OA.

Methodology:

An observational study was conducted in physiotherapy outpatient department on patients having OA of knee joint diagnosed by the orthopaedic department. Thirty subjects, both males and females, diagnosed with OA knee, above age of 40 years were included in the study by convenience sampling. Outcome measures assessed were NPRS both on activity and at rest, knee ROM, knee MMT, TUG test, BMI and WOMAC score.

Result:

Pearson’s correlation was used to find correlation between parameters as data was normally distributed. Correlation of pain and function was found to be r= 0.511, p=0.004. Correlation of balance and function was found to be r= 0.549, p=0.002. Correlation of BMI and function was found to be r=0.023, p=0.905. Thus moderate correlation was found between pain and balance with function which was statistically significant. The mean knee ROM on left was 119.43+13.94 and on right was 122.33+14.03degrees.The median of MMT of knee flexors and extensors on left was 4.5 and on right was 4.

Conclusion: Pain and balance affection may lead to functional impairments in subjects with osteoarthritis of knee.