Biopsychosocial Assessment in Knee OA

Background: Patient's pain experience is a complex phenomenon. A comprehensive clinical assessment of the patient's pain experience is helpful to define individual differences between patients and thus to plan effective individualized treatment programs. Gait assessment is an important functional task in the clinical evaluation, which allows the definition and modulation of therapeutic intervention. The influence of patient's pain experience on gait parameters is currently understudied in literature.Objective: To investigate patient's pain experience based on an assessment model proposed by Walton and Elliott in patients with knee OA. The study's second aim is to examine the correlation between the parameters of the 10 Meter Walking Test (10MWT) and Time Up and Go test (TUG) assessed by an inertial sensor and the patient's pain experience.

Inclusion Criteria:Inclusion criteria for this study are age 50 and 90 years, Body Mass Index (BMI) <30 kg/m2, and Knee OA symptoms. OA is confirmed by the treating physician and radiographic findings (severity of OA 2 to 4 Kellgren-Lawrence scale).Exclusion Criteria:Exclusion Criteria are the presence of psychiatric or neurological disorders, peripheral nerve injury, uncontrolled inflammatory states, neuromuscular and rheumatologic diseases, dementia and language barriers, limiting orthopedic conditions (amputations, non-reducible joint limitations), post-traumatic OA (e.g., fractures), congenital hip deformities, hip surgery, Legg-Calvé-Perthes disease. Patients with degenerative or non-degenerative neurological conditions in which pain perception is impaired and ongoing corticosteroid infiltration, and bedridden subjects are excluded.