Article

People with knee osteoarthritis (OA) report ongoing limitations in
climbing stairs, even after total knee arthroplasty (TKA).
The aim of this
systematic review was to synthesise the available evidence of factors affecting
stair climbing ability in patients with knee OA before and after TKA. METHOD: A
systematic search was conducted of common electronic databases. All English
language abstracts where stair-climbing was assessed in patients with either knee
OA or at least 6 months after TKA, and a relationship to any physical,
psychological or demographic factors was reported. RESULTS: Thirteen studies were
included in the final review, nine investigated a knee OA population, and four
investigated a TKA population. For patients with knee OA there was consistent and
convincing evidence that greater stair-climbing ability was related to stronger
lower limb muscles and less knee pain. For patients with TKA there was much less
research, and no conclusions could be reached. CONCLUSIONS: For people with knee
OA there is evidence that some physical, demographic and psychosocial factors are
related to stair-climbing ability. However, the evidence for similar
relationships in the TKA population is scarce and needs more extensive research.
Implications for Rehabilitation People with knee osteoarthritis experience
difficulty when climbing stairs, and this remains challenging even after knee
replacement. For people with knee osteoarthritis, a range of physical,
demographic and psychosocial factors contribute to stair-climbing ability,
however, evidence for similar relationships in the TKA population is scarce.
Rehabilitation that is multi-faceted may be the best approach to improve
stair-climbing in people with knee osteoarthritis.

Langue : ANGLAIS