Factors associated with balance function in patients with knee osteoarthritis: An integrative review

This integrative review is to identify the factors associated with balance function in patients with knee osteoarthritis and explore the relationship between these factors and balance function. Osteoarthritis commonly occurs in elderly people. Patients with knee osteoarthritis have balance impairment, and maintaining knee stability is important for such patients to prevent accidental injuries caused by falling. Therefore, it is important to clarify the factors related to balance function in patients with knee osteoarthritis. The PubMed, Science Direct, CINAHL, Ovid, ProQuest, CNKI, WanFang databases were searched, and relevant articles published up to December 2015 were included. Twenty articles were included in the analysis. Age, gender, dominant limb, foot length, knee alignment, diurnal variation, and meniscus tears were the non-modifiable factors, whereas body mass index, knee pain, muscle strength, joint range of motion, severity, and cognitive loading were the modifiable factors. Knee sleeve and custom-molded insoles showed protective effects against knee osteoarthritis.