Relationship between Fear-Avoidance Beliefs and Muscle Co-Contraction in People with Knee Osteoarthritis

• Published in: Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) Vol. 24; no. 16; p. 5137
• Main Authors: Taniguchi, Takanori, Tanaka, So, Nishigami, Tomohiko, Imai, Ryota, Mibu, Akira, Yoshimoto, Takaaki
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 08-08-2024; MDPI
• Subjects: Aged; Arthritis; Back pain; Climbing; co-contraction; Cross-Sectional Studies; Electrodes; Electromyography; Fear - physiology; Fear - psychology; fear-avoidance beliefs; Female; Gait; Gait - physiology; Humans; kinesiophobia; Knee; Knee Joint - physiopathology; knee osteoarthritis; Male; Middle Aged; Muscle Contraction - physiology; Muscle function; Muscle, Skeletal - physiopathology; Neuromuscular diseases; Osteoarthritis; Osteoarthritis, Knee - physiopathology; Osteoarthritis, Knee - psychology; pain catastrophizing; Sensors; Stair Climbing - physiology; Walking; Walking - physiology; United States > US; co-contraction; pain catastrophizing; fear-avoidance beliefs; knee osteoarthritis; kinesiophobia
• ISSN: 1424-8220; 1424-8220
• DOI: 10.3390/s24165137

Excessive muscle co-contraction is one of the factors related to the progression of knee osteoarthritis (OA). A previous study demonstrated that pain, joint instability, lateral thrust, weight, and lower extremity alignment were listed as factors affecting excessive co-contraction in knee OA. However, this study aimed to assess the association between fear-avoidance beliefs and muscle co-contraction during gait and stair climbing in people with knee OA. Twenty-four participants with knee OA participated in this cross-sectional study. Co-contraction ratios (CCRs) were used to calculate muscle co-contraction during walking and stair climbing, using surface electromyography. Fear-avoidance beliefs were assessed by the Tampa Scale for Kinesiophobia-11 (TSK-11) for kinesiophobia and the Pain Catastrophizing Scale (PCS) for pain catastrophizing. Secondary parameters that may influence co-contraction, such as degree of pain, lateral thrust, weight, and lower extremity alignment, were measured. The relationships between the CCR during each movement, TSK-11, and PSC were evaluated using Spearman's rank correlation coefficient and partial correlation analysis, adjusted by weight and lower extremity alignment. Partial correlation analysis showed a significant correlation only between medial muscles CCR and TSK-11 during stair descent (r = 0.54,
< 0.05). Our study revealed that kinesiophobia could be associated with co-contraction during stair descent in people with knee OA.