Central Nervous System Pain Mechanism and Excitability Changes in Symptomatic Knee Osteoarthritis

Overview 

Osteoarthritis is the degeneration of joint cartilage and the underlying bone, which may or may not cause pain and/or other symptoms. Increasing evidence suggests that symptomatic knee osteoarthritis involves changes in how the nervous system transmits and processes information from the knee joint. This can include increased sensitivity of the nerve cells at the knee, spinal cord, and brain to different types of sensory input. This study aims to use different tools to assess differences in nervous system sensitivity between individuals with and without symptomatic knee osteoarthritis.

What will be done?

Individuals with and without symptomatic knee osteoarthritis will undergo the same assessment procedures to determine how “sensitive” and “excitable” different parts of the nervous system are to different types of sensory stimulation. This will occur over a single session of 2-4 hours at UBC Hospital.

Participation in this study includes

1. Filling out a variety of questionnaires about pain symptoms
2. Pain sensitivity testing at the knee and back of the forearm
3. Measurement of “excitability” of two different parts of the brain

Who can participate?

YOU MAY BE ELIGIBLE IF YOU:

• Are between 45-75 years old
• Have movement-related knee joint pain
• Have morning knee stiffness lasting < 30 minutes, or have no morning stiffness
• Have no knee pain on either side

If you would like to determine if you are eligible for this study, please click on this link to access the screening survey: Screening Survey Form

Want to find out more?

Interested in participating in this study? Please contact the research team.
Email: clamb02@student.ubc.ca
Phone: (604) 827-3369

This study has been approved by the UBC Research Ethics Board under application number H23-03617.