Evaluation and Validation of a Joint Stress Test to Induce Activity-Related Knee Joint Discomfort - a Prospective Case-Control Study

The assessment of improvement or maintenance of joint health in healthy subjects is a great challenge. The aim of the study was the evaluation of a joint stress test to assess joint discomfort in subjects with activity-related knee joint discomfort (ArJD). Forty-five subjects were recruited to perform the single-leg-step-down (SLSD) test (15 subjects per group). Subjects with ArJD of the knee (age 22-62 years) were compared to healthy subjects (age 24-59 years) with no knee joint discomfort during daily life sporting activity and to subjects with mild-to-moderate osteoarthritis of the knee joint (OA, Kellgren score 2-3, age 42-64 years). The results suggest the SLSD test is a reliable tool for the assessment of knee joint health function in ArJD and OA subjects to study the improvements in their activities. Further, this model can be used as a stress model in intervention studies to study the impact of stress on knee joint health function.

Schön C, Reule C, Knaub K, Micka A, Wilhelm M, Alt W, Menzel D

Sports Med Open. 2021 Apr 6;7(1):24. doi: 10.1186/s40798-021-00317-7. PMID: 33825065; PMCID: PMC8024428