Assessment of disability in osteoarthritis of the knee.

Objective Knee osteoarthritis is the most common site of osteoarthritis in Tunisia with a prevalence according to Tunisian League Anti-Rheumatic (LITAR) of 27.3%. The functional impact of knee osteoarthritis can cause major disability. The objective of this study is to identify priority disability of knee osteoarthritis by evaluating the Mactar index. Material/patients and methods Prospective descriptive study in the department of physical and rehabilitation medicine at Kassab Institute for six months with adult subjects suffering from knee pain associated with radiographically confirmed knee OA. For each patient, age, sex, occupation, clinical examination data and evaluation of the functional impact of Mactar index have been set. Results We collected 80 women whose average age was 59.8 years and the sex-ratio (male/female) of 39. Patients were not working in 71.25% of cases. Clinical examination objectified obesity in 65% of cases and a malalignment of the knee in 62.5% of cases. For evaluating the functional impact of Mactar index, activities that patients want to practice without pain were: the household in 78.75% of cases (7.11 rating), prayer in 51.25% of cases (8.31 rating) and walking in 47.5% of cases (7.4 rating). Discussion–conclusion The impact of pain on daily activities as described by the algo-functional Lesquesnne is insufficient to assess disability in relation to the socio-cultural context of the patient because it evaluates by the limitations of priority activities. Thus the Mactar index identifies the functional impact of knee osteoarthritis and leads to personalized care.