ArticleClinical biomechanics (Bristol, Avon)2025
Associations of quadriceps activation during step-up with pain during movement and physical function in people with knee osteoarthritis.
Article in Clinical biomechanics (Bristol, Avon), 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed.
- Evaluation of the Effect ofNutrients · 2026Trial
- Neuromuscular and Kinematic Strategies During Step-Up and Down-Forwards Task in Individuals with Knee Osteoarthritis.Journal of clinical medicine · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundMovement-evoked pain, and excessive muscle activation and co-activation during daily activities such as stair climbing are characteristic of knee osteoarthritis. Our objective was to examine the association between muscle activation and coactivation during step-up with pain during step-up and self-reported physical function in people with knee osteoarthritis.
methodsWe used data from participants with symptomatic knee OA (n = 43) who performed five 30-s step-up bouts. Maximum pain during step-up (range 0-10) was recorded as movement-evoked pain. We assessed mean vastus medialis and medial hamstrings activation during the ascent phase of step-up, normalized to activation during a maximum voluntary isometric contraction, using surface electromyography (EMG). We also derived muscle coactivation over the same period. Physical function was assessed using the McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC) Physical Function scale. We used hierarchical regression models to examine the additional contributions of EMG measures to movement-evoked pain and WOMAC scores in addition to age, sex, BMI, and quadriceps peak torque.
findingsGreater vastus medialis activation during step-up was associated with lower movement-evoked pain (β = -0.47, p < 0.01, model R
interpretationGreater vastus medialis activation may be a compensatory strategy to reduce pain during step-up and improve function in knee osteoarthritis.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.