Dynamic joint stiffness of the ankle in rheumatoid arthritis postmenopausal women fallers and non-fallers

摘要

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) pathogenic process may modify the vis-coelasticity of the structural joint components leading to alterations of joint stability. Changes in ankle joint stability may explain gait alterations between fallers and non-fallers and may be a possible reason to the increased fall rates showed by RA patients [1] and postmenopausal women [2]. Joint stiffness plays an important role in joint stability [3], which can be studied by the dynamic joint stiffness (resistance that muscles and other joint structures manifest during inter-segmental displacement, as a reaction to an external moment of force) [4].