Contralateral cane use and knee joint load in people with medial knee osteoarthritis: The effect of varying body weight support

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the effect of varying body weight support (BWS) with contralateral cane use on medial knee load, measured by external knee adduction moment (KAM), in medial knee osteoarthritis (OA) participants. Influences of cane use technique, pain and malalignment on the cane's load-reducing effects were investigated. Method: Participants (n= 23) underwent three-dimensional gait analysis to measure KAM peaks (early and late stance) and impulse. Unaided walking was firstly analyzed. Following cane use training, participants placed pre-determined magnitudes of BWS through the cane (10%, 15% and 20% in random order), with visual feedback provided via a force-instrumented cane and proj..