[Correlations between measurements of the sense of knee position and the severity of joint lesions in knee osteoarthritis].

The primary purpose of this study was to analyse the relationship between 4 different methods of measuring the knee position sense of persons diagnosed as having osteoarthritis of the knee and position sense deficit with their disease severity. To this end, the active position sense of 8 patients was assessed in sitting using a potentiometer known to measure knee angles precisely. Also administered was a validated subjective questionnaire, the Lequesne algofunctional index. The measurements of position sense included: total reproduction error; mean absolute reproduction error; variability in algebraic error or variable error; and the average constant error of 5 angle reproduction tests. The total error, mean absolute error and constant error measurements were significantly correlated with the handicap scores on the questionnaire (p < 0.01). These results plus the further finding of a bias towards target underestimation in this group strongly suggests that impaired proprioception might be an important pathogenetic factor in determining the severity of this disabling disease.