Are you healthy and over 40 years of age?

Then we would like to hear from you!

Have you not had any major surgery or injuries
in your back, legs and feet?

We need healthy control subjects for a study looking at the differences in foot & ankle structure & muscle activity patterns in healthy people over 40, compared to people over 40 with kneecap arthritis 

The study will take approx. 2.5 hours 

It will involve measurements of foot & ankle structure and muscle activity of the legs during tasks such as stepping & squatting

If you are interested then please contact Narelle 

n.wyndow@uq.edu.au

Why is this study being conducted?

Kneecap arthritis is one of the most common types of knee arthritis. It causes pain and stiffness in the knee particularly with activities such as walking up and down stairs, and with squatting.

However, we know little about the features of this disease or what treatments may be effective. In younger people with kneecap pain, foot and ankle structure and muscle activity during a variety of tasks are different compared to people of the same age without kneecap pain. 

This study will aim to determine if people over 40 with kneecap pain, and x-ray evidence of kneecap arthritis, have different foot and ankle structure, and muscle function to people of a similar age who have no injuries of their lower limb. 

What is involved?

For the first study, 40 people who have pain in the kneecap region, and 30 people with no lower limb injuries will recruited from the general population. This study aims to compare the differences in structure of the legs and feet in people who have kneecap pain and arthritis to those, of a similar age, who have no pain.  Muscle patterns of the legs when stepping up and down stairs will also be compared.

Would you like to be involved?

To be involved in our study, you will need to meet our eligibility criteria.

To be included in the healthy control group, you must have:

• no pain in the front of the knee with any activity

You would need to attend the research laboratory in the School of Biomedical Sciences at the St Lucia campus of the University of Queensland. 

            If you are a healthy control participant with no knee pain, then you would only need to attend the research laboratory on one occasion.  Testing takes a maximum of 2.5 hours. There are 3 questionnaires that can be completed online or hard copy if you prefer.

         

            If you think you may be eligible and are interested in taking part in our study, please contact our research team via email on n.wyndow@uq.edu.au