Correlation between fear of fall, balance and physical function in people with osteoarthritis of knee joint

Introduction: Osteoarthritis is a degenerative joint disease. Fear of fall and balance impairment in people with osteoarthritis of knee joint is a major cause of loss of independence, which has an effect on the physical function in them. The aim of the study was to correlate fear of fall with balance scores and with physical function in people with osteoarthritis of knee joint. Material and methods: A correlational study was conducted at college of physiotherapy where fear of fall, balance impairment and physical function were assessed in 30 subjects, both males and females, diagnosed having osteoarthritis of knee joint. Exclusion criteria were subjects with history of neurological diseases, fracture or total joint replacement within the previous 6 month or acute illness or injury on the day of the functional assessment. Outcome measure included Fear of fall measured using falls efficacy scale-International (English) (FES), balance was measured using Berg balance scale (BBS) and physical function was assessed using modified WOMAC index (CRD Pune version). Level of significance was kept at 5%. Spearman correlation was applied to find the correlation between FES and BBS and between FES and WOMAC. All the data were analyzed using SPSS16. Results: A moderate negative correlation was found between FES and BBS (r=-0.520, p=0.002) and a positive moderate correlation between FES and WOMAC (r=0.666, p<0.001) which were significant. Conclusion: The study concluded that there is a correlation between fear of fall and balance and physical function in subjects with osteoarthritis of knee.