The analysis of the changes in the pedestal pressure in obese subjects with knee osteoarthritis

57 volunteers, 16 males and 41 females, with knee pain joined to this study which aimed to evaluate the pedestal pressure variation of the patients with knee osteoarthritis (OA) using pedobarography device and to examine these variations on obese and nonobese individuals. The individuals that joined the study were evaluated in three groups. In the first group, Body Mass Index (BMI)< 30 kg/m²(mean: 27,6±2,51kg/m²) and there were 16 people with bilateral knee OA, in the second group, BMI>30 kg/m² (mean: 34,7±4,75 kg/m²) and there were 25 people with bilateral knee OA and in the third group, there were 16 healthy individuals, BMI>30 kg/ m² (mean: 30,3±4,65 kg/m²). The level of the pain in the individuals was measured with Visual Analogue Scale (VAS). The anthropometric measures like Body Mass Index (BMI), the fat amount were evaluated by Inner Scan Body Composition Monitor. The subjective and functional evaluation of knee were done by the Lequesne Index and Western Ontario and McMaster Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC), and the measurements of the pedestal pressures were evaluated by the pedobarography device. All the data were analyzed using non-parametric statistical tests. When the VAS values between the groups were examined it was found that significant results were obtained during resting and during activity (p<0,05) and on the inter group comparisons of the VAS values the third group was significantly lower than other groups (p<0,01). WOMAC and Lequesne scores were significant between groups (p<0,05), however on the comparison of the WOMAC sub-scores and Lequesne scores the third group was significantly lower than the other groups (p<0,01). When the plantar pressure values between groups were studied we could not find a significant pedestal pressure variation on the right side, however the left midfoot value and the outer forefoot value were found significantly higher in the second and the third groups respectively (p<0,01). Consequently, The reason for the change in the outer forefoot and the midfoot has not yet been determined. We conclude that the analysis of the changes in the pedestal pressure in the subjects with OA should be done simultaneously with the evaluation of the muscle strength around knee, the arches of the foot, the foot structure and the normal joint movements of the foot and toes.Keywords: Knee osteoarthritis, Pedobarography, Obesity, Plantar Pressure