Medial Tibiofemoral-Joint Stiffness in Males and Females Across the Lifespan

Abstract

Context: Analyzing ligament stiffness between males and females at 3 maturational stages across the lifespan may provide insight into whether changes in ligament behavior with aging may contribute to joint laxity.Objective: To compare the stiffness of the medial structures of the tibiofemoral joint and the medial collateral ligament to determine if there are differences at 3 distinct ages and between the sexes.Design: Cross-sectional study. Setting: Laboratory. Patients or Other Participants: A total of 108 healthy and physically active volunteers with no previous knee surgery, no acute knee injury, and no use of exogenous hormones in the past 6 months participated. They were divided into 6 groups based on sex and age (8-10, 18-40, 50-75 years).Main Outcome Measure(s): Ligament stiffness of the tibiofemoral joint was measured with an arthrometer in 08 and 208 of tibiofemoral-joint flexion. The slope values of the forcestrain line that represents stiffness of the medial tibiofemoral joint at 08 and the medial collateral ligament at 208 of flexion were obtained.Results: When height and mass were controlled, we found a main effect (P , .001) for age group: the 8-to 10-year olds were less stiff than both the 18-to 40-and the 50-to 75-year-old groups. No effects of sex or tibiofemoral-joint position on stiffness measures were noted when height and mass were included as covariates.Conclusions: Prepubescent medial tibiofemoral-joint stiffness was less than postpubescent knee stiffness. Medial tibiofemoral-joint stiffness was related to height and mass after puberty in men and women.Key Words: medial collateral ligament, arthrometry, hormones, sex differences Key PointsMedial tibiofemoral-joint stiffness was less in prepubescents than in postpubescents. After puberty, medial tibiofemoral-joint stiffness was influenced by height and mass in both men and women.

Which treatment protocol is better in rehabilitation of joint contracture?

“…A negative correlation was determined between age and increasing range of motion in wrist extension in this study. This result seems to be expected because younger patients are prone to show better results due to elastic properties (24). But among all measured parameters, this result was present in only one joint and therefore this correlation should be carefully taken into consideration.…”