Individuals With Knee Osteoarthritis Demonstrate Interlimb Asymmetry in Pedaling Power During Stationary Cycling.
Cycling is commonly prescribed for physical rehabilitation of individuals with knee osteoarthritis (OA). Despite the known therapeutic benefits, no research has examined interlimb symmetry of power output during cycling in these individuals. We investigated the effects of external workload and cadence on interlimb symmetry of crank power output in individuals with knee OA versus healthy controls. A total of 12 older participants with knee OA and 12 healthy sex- and age-matched controls were recruited. Participants performed 2-minute bouts of stationary cycling at 4 workload-cadence conditions (75 W at 60 rpm, 75 W at 90 rpm, 100 W at 60 rpm, and 100 W at 90 rpm). Power output contribution of each limb toward total crank power output was computed over 60 crank cycles from the effective component of pedal force, which was perpendicular to the crank arm. Across the workload-cadence conditions, the knee OA group generated significantly higher power output with the severely affected leg compared with the less affected leg (10% difference; P = .02). Healthy controls did not show interlimb asymmetry in power output (0.1% difference; P > .99). For both groups, interlimb asymmetry was unaffected by external workload and cadence. Our results indicate that individuals with knee OA demonstrate interlimb asymmetry in crank power output during stationary cycling.
['Buddhadev|Harsh H|HH|', 'Crisafulli|Daniel L|DL|', 'Suprak|David N|DN|', 'San Juan|Jun G|JG|']
D000368:Aged D001642:Bicycling D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena D005080:Exercise Test D005260:Female D006801:Humans D007719:Knee Joint D007866:Leg D008297:Male D008875:Middle Aged D020370:Osteoarthritis, Knee D016059:Range of Motion, Articular
rehabilitation power output cadence ergometer