Abstract
Background:
Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic disease affecting multiple joints of the body. More than 90% of patients affected by rheumatoid arthritis develop foot or ankle pain over the course of their disease. The purpose of the current study was to report ankle dorsiflexion in rheumatoid arthritis patients as well as a control group utilizing a validated measurement instrument.
Methods:
Using a previously validated device, 70 patients presenting with rheumatoid arthritis and 70 controls were measured for ankle range motion and isolated gastrocnemius contractures. Clinical and goniometer measurement of ankle range of motion was also performed.
Results:
The rheumatoid arthritis group had a mean dorsiflexion of 12.3 degrees compared to a mean of 17.3 degrees in the control group (
Conclusion:
Patients with rheumatoid arthritis had less ankle dorsiflexion than the control group. The clinical significance of this study is that it provides evidence that patients with rheumatoid arthritis have decreased ankle dorsiflexion even despite a lack of foot and ankle pain. In light of the high lifetime incidence of foot and ankle pain in these patients, this study provides some evidence that the decreased ankle dorsiflexion may be a contributing factor in foot and ankle pain, but further studies are needed.
Level of Evidence:
Level II, prospective cohort study.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
