이 연구는 65세 이상의 골관절염을 앓고 있는 여성 노인(실험군: 67.2±5.4세; 13명)과 건강한 일반 노인여성(통제군: 66.73±9.7세; 15명)을 대상으로 12주간의 요가 운동 전.후의 평형성(동적평형성 및 정 적평형성)의 변화를 알아보고 골관절염 노인여성의 요가 운동의 효과성을 알아보고자 실시되었다. 이 연구에서 측정된 동적평형성 및 정적평형성은 시각정보(개안, 폐안)의 유무에 따른 2번의 측정이 진행 되었다. 동적평형성 측정은 Spacebalance 3D, (Korea) 기기를 이용하여 측정하였고, 정적평형성 측정 은 주로 사용하는 발의 눈감고 외발서기로 측정하여 결과를 도출하였다. 12주간 요가 운동에 따른 동적평형성(폐안)은 골관절염 실험군(p(.05)에서는 유의한 증가가 나타났으나, 통제군에서는 유의한 변화가 나타나지 않았다. 또한, 동적평형성(개안) 측정에 따른 변화는 실험군(p(.001) 및 통제군(p(.05) 두 그룹 모두에서 유의한 향상 결과가 나타났다. 정적평형성 결과 두 집단(실험군, 통제군) 모두 시기 별로 유의한 향상이 나타났다. 이 연구의 결과로 12주간의 요가 수련은 골관절염을 앓고 있는 여성 노인의 평형성을 증가시키는 유익한 운동임을 알 수 있었다.

The purpose of this study was to examine the physiochemical characteristics of hot water extract of Caragana sinica roots and verified its protective effect on MIA-induced osteoarthritis in rats. The contents of total polyphenol and total flavonoid used in this experiment were 0.40 mg/g and 0.22 mg/g respectively. We found that the weight of all experiment groups which ingested Caragana sinica extract for three weeks evenly increased in rats with MIA-induced osteoarthritis without toxicity in the liver or kidney. In the histopathological test through the Mankin score, the extent of damage of knee joint tissue in the experiment groups to which Caragana sinica extract was administered in 5 mL/kg or 10 mL/kg was significantly lower than that of the negative control groups statistically(p<0.05). As for the grade of osteoarthritis, the extent of tissue damage of the experiment groups to which Caragana sinica extract was administered in 5 mL/kg or 10 mL/kg was lower than that of the negative control groups as well.

This study was performed to determine the prevalence and associated risk factors of osteoarthritis in the elderly using the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2013~2014 KNHANES VI). A total of 2,148 (936 males, 1212 females) elderly participants aged 65 years or older were selected. Prevalence of osteoarthritis was higher in 460 female (80.7%) and 167 rural (29.1%) groups, than in 110 male (19.3%) and 404 urban (70.9%) groups. While the mean values of LDL-cholesterol, triglyceride level, and waist circumference were significantly higher in the osteoarthritis group than the normal group, other parameters including height, HDL-cholesterol, fasting blood glucose, hemoglobin and hematocrit values were not. Quality of life (EQ-5D) was also significantly lower in the osteoarthritis group. The results of logistic regression analysis showed that smoking, alcohol intake, obesity, hypercholesterolemia and energy intakes were significantly different in regards to the prevalence of osteoarthritis. This study suggests that obesity and energy intakes were associated with osteoarthritis, whereas risk factors of chronic disease, such as hypertension, Hypo-high density lipoprotein, hypertriglyceridemia, anemia, diabetes, vigorous physical activity, moderate physical activity and walking were not. Long-term prospective study is necessary to investigate the effects of these factors on osteoarthritis.

The purpose of this study was to identify the effects of mechanical traction applied to the knee joint on pain, knee range of motion (ROM), timed up and go (TUG) and Western Ontario and MacMaster Universities Osteoarthritis (WOMAC) in patients with knee osteoarthritis (KOA) of Kellgren-Lawrence radiological rating scale Ⅱ or Ⅲ. Twenty three patients participated in the experiment for a period of four weeks. After baseline assessment, the patients with KOA were randomized into two groups: the traction group (n1=12), which received traction with general physical therapy; and the control group (n2=11), which received general physical therapy only on unilateral knee joints. Patients received interventions once a day, three times a week, for four weeks. Wilcoxon signed-rank test was used to analyze the change of dependent variances within the group during pre and post intervention. Mann-Whitney U test was used to analyze the change of dependent variances as TUG and passive ROM between the two groups. Analysis of covariance was used to analyze the change of dependent variances as numeric pain rating scale (NPRS) and WOMAC score between the two groups. In Wilcoxon signed-rank test, the traction group improved significantly with regard to NPRS (p<.01), passive knee flexion ROM (p<.01), passive knee extension (p<.05), TUG (p<.01) and WOMAC scores (p<.01) after intervention for four weeks, but not for the control group. In the Mann-Whitney U test and analysis of covariance, no significant difference was seen among all the dependent variances after intervention for four weeks between the two groups. These outcomes suggest that further studies should be carried out to determine the effects of mechanical traction prior to using it for the treatment of patients with knee osteoarthritis.

Osteoarthritis is a degenerative joint disease and is led to physical disability. Yet the development of effective disease-modifying treatments has lagged. In this study, I examined the effect of physical therapeutic intervention through microcurrent stimulation and attempt to find which degree of intensity, either 25 or 500 with a regular 5 pps pulse, is more effective in the osteoarthritis. Osteoarthritis was induced with a mixture of 2% carrageenan and 2% kaolin in 26 male Sprague-Dawley rats. The mixture (0.1 ) was injected into the intra-articular capsule of knee joint once a week for three weeks. Five animals did not show degenerative changes by radiological findings and excluded in the following experiment. Osteoarthritic animals were randomly divided into 3 groups (, , =7/each): untreated, treated with 25 , treated with 500 . All experimental groups received microcurrent stimulation for four weeks (15 min/day, 5 days/week). The ethological inspection of foot print analysis on the walking corridor was accomplished every week. Histological preparations and immunohistochemical staining with insulin-like growth factor-1 were also done in the articular cartilages. All of these parameters were compared with those of osteoarthritic control group (n=7). The ethological inspection of foot print analysis revealed that changes of walking track (paw width) and stride length was significantly increased in both experimental groups. The better results were observed in experimental group treated with 25 intensity without significance than group treated with 500 . Histological preparations disclosed that routine hyaline cartilage of articular surface were altered to fibrous cartilage in untreated group and experimental group treated with 500 intensity. But a little changes were seen in experimental group treated with 25 intensity. Immunolocalization of insulin-like growth factor-1 was simultaneously decreased according to the duration of osteoarthritis, and did not show significant difference among the groups. In this study discovered that the microcurrent stimulation, especially 25 intensity, had a positive effect by the ethological inspection, histological and immunohistochemical stainings. These results suggest that microcurrent stimulation with low-intensity might be effective in the promotion of healing process for the osteoarthritis.

The purpose of this study was to examine the validity and reliability of the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC)-VA3.0 in patients with hip and knee osteoarthritis (OA). The sample consisted of 301 patients who had received treatments at the physical therapy units of 5 medical institutions in Andong City in june 2006. Questionnaires on the WOMAC were recruited by 12 physical therapists. The internal structure and reliability of the scales were evaluated by means of item-internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha coefficient: ), item-discriminant validity, and Pearson's relation coefficient. To explore construct validity, we conducted a principal component factor analysis with varimax rotation analysis. The criterion for factor extraction was an eigenvalue >1.0. The average age of the patients was 62.1 years. All WOMAC subscales (pain, stiffness, and physical function) were internally consistent with Cronbach's coefficients of .81, .91, and .80, respectively. The internal consistency reliability of item-each scale were also internally consistent with Cronbach's coefficient of .89 (Pearson's correlation coefficient: .71~.84), .93 (.89~.91), and .96 (.67~.91), respectively. However, high correlation was found among 3 items (.66~.83, .66~.67, and .67~.83), so the item-discriminant validity was low ( coefficient: .81, .91, .80, respectively). The construct validity by factor analysis was low because it was not consistent With WOMAC-VA3.0. In conclusion, the results reported here confirm the reliability of the WOMAC in patients with OA of the hip and knee. The collection of information on the hip and knee osteoarthritis using this instrument was acceptable to patients. A further prospective multi-center study will be necessary to prove the construct validity.

This study was designed to examine the relationship between clinical symptoms, self-efficacy, and performance of women with osteoarthritis. It is a survey study of 60 women who were diagnosed as osteoarthritis and given medical treatments from September, 2005 to October, 2005 in hospital 'H' located in Yongin-si. For clinical symptoms, radiographs of the subjects' knees were taken and evaluated the pathology grade by the Kellgren-Lawrence grade. Pain and stiffness was measured by the measure of WOMAC (Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index), and functional reach test was measured in order to examine balancing abilities. Self-efficacy was measured by a tool which has revised the ASES (Arthritis Self-Efficacy Scale), and performance was measured by recording the difficulty of the WOMAC measurements themselves, and the time taken for 20 m walking, going up and down 9 stairs, and 5 sit-down and stand-up repetitions. The resulting differences in the other variables according to performance and the relationship between performance with variables are the following. First, an increase in pain in women with osteoarthritis led to decreased functional ability. Second, an increase in stiffness in women with osteoarthritis led to a decrease in functional ability. Third, a decrease in balance in women with osteoarthritis led to a decrease in functional ability. Fourth, a decrease in self-efficacy in women with osteoarthritis led to a decrease in functional ability. Fifth, the variables for estimating the performance by self-report were pain and self-efficacy. The variables for estimating the performance by recording the time taken was balance and self-efficacy. As a result factors such as pain, balance and self-efficacy in women with osteoarthritis were closely related to performance. Based on the results, it seems that physical therapy programs to decrease pain and to increase the balance in women with osteoarthritis, and psychological approaches to increasing self-efficacy are needed. I hope that the results of this study will be useful data for clinical management and intervention for women with osteoarthritis.

The quadriceps-angle (Q-angle) and the ratio of hamstring/quadriceps (H/Q) are important for the stability of the knee and for protection from excessive stress. The aim of this study was to examine the association between Q-angle and H/Q ratio with and without knee osteoarthritis. We compared knee osteoarthritis patients with symptom-free women. The mean age of the patients in the arthritis group (25 women, osteoarthritis) was 59.7 years. The non-arthritis group consisted of 25 women with a mean age of 55.2 years. Of the 25 women with osteoarthritis, 5 had the condition in their left knee, 5 had it in their right knee, and 15 had it on both sides. There was no significant difference in the knee Q-angle of the left and right knees of the arthritis group and the non-arthritis-group (p>.05). The strength of all the muscles around the involved right knee in the arthritis group was significantly weaker than that of the non-arthritis group (p<.05). However, in the left knee, only the strength of the knee extensors and internal rotators was significantly weaker than that of the non-arthritis group (p<.05). The Q-angle was not associated with the H/Q ratio and internal rotators/external rotators ratio of the involved knee in the arthritis group (p>.05). Neither was the Q-angle associated with the pain level of an involved knee in the arthritis group (p>.05). The knee pain was not associated with the H/Q ratio of the involved knee in the arthritis group (p>.05). The Q-angle was not associated with the ratio of H/Q and pain level of the involved knee in the osteoarthritis women.

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a degenerative disease characterized by the progressive degradation of joint cartilage and is accompanied by secondary inflammation of synovial membranes. The purpose of this study describes a preliminary evaluation of the anti-inflammatory activity on test material of Litsea japonica. fruit (LJTM) Also, this study was to evaluate the effects of LJTM on the joint cartilage of rat with OA induced by monosodium iodoacetate (MIA). To study for anti-inflammatory agents effectively, we first examined the inhibitory effect of the LJTM on the production of pro-inflammatory factors and cytokines stimulated with lipopolysaccharide. We identified anti-nociceptive effects of the LJTM by using in vivo peripheral and central nervous pain models. In addition, the aim of this study was to evaluate the effects on mRNA expression of MMP-2, -3, -7, -9, -13, TIMP-1 and –2 in cartilage of OA. In the LJTM inhibited production of pro-inflammatory mediators (NO and PGE2) and pro-inflammatory cytokines (TNF-α and IL-6). In cartilage, Expression of MMPs and TIMPs mRNA was suppressed in LJTM treatment group than in the control group. This study suggests that LJTM are potential candidates as anti-inflammation and anti-osteoarthritis agents (painkillers) for the treatment of OA.