Effect of Sleeve Type Knee Brace on the Metabolic Effort during Step Test

Abstract

Knee pain is prevalent among sports athletes and the elderly population. In particular, a large number of the elderly that participate in hiking suffer from knee pain, and the most common method of treatment is to use a knee brace. However, the qualitative change in metabolic effort from using a knee brace during hiking is not clear. Thus, the effect of using the popular sleeve type knee brace on the metabolic energy expenditure during a step test was evaluated in this study. A modified YMCA step test protocol was used to measure the effect of the brace on subjects during fatiguing exercise similar to hiking. Subjects were asked to step up and down onto a 30cm high box at a rate of 24 steps/min for five minutes. Eight healthy subjects with no history knee injury performed the task for two conditions, no brace and brace, randomly at similar times on different days. A minimum of three days of rest between trials were required to allow the subject to fully recover from the fatigued state. The metabolic cost was calculated by indirect calorimetry using the Cosmed Quark CPET (Cosmed Corporation, Rome, Italy). Performing the step test while wearing the sleeve type knee brace showed an increase in average energy expenditure.