Effect of experimentally induced knee pain on standing balance in healthy older individuals

Abstract

Objective. Standing balance is impaired in older individuals with knee pain. The extent to which this impairment is due to the effects of pain itself or other pathophysiological aspects related to the underlying musculoskeletal condition causing the pain is unclear. To isolate the influence of pain, this study evaluated the effect of experimentally induced knee pain on standing balance in healthy older individuals. Methods. We used a repeated-measures, within-subject design involving 12 healthy individuals aged 50-60 yr and with no history of knee pathology. Balance was tested during two randomly allocated experimental conditions: (i) control and (ii) knee pain induced by injection of hypert..