Comparison of Static, Dynamic Balance, Knee Joint Position Among Healthy Women and Those Infected with COVID-19

The Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has created widespread and long-lasting impacts on human health. Infection induces harm and damage to various systems, including the respiratory, digestive, kidney, and central nervous systems. Hence, considering its effects on the central nervous system (CNS) and nervous disorders and the fact that the CNS can impact balance and “position sense”, the objective of this study was to compare static balance, dynamic balance, and knee joint position sense among women (with COVID-19 and healthy subjects).

In this study, 15 women infected with COVID-19 (age: 47.73±3.44 years, height: 162.53±4.17 cm, mass: 70.33±4.67 kg, and body mass index (BMI): 26.63±1.62 kg/m2) and 15 healthy women (age:47.53±3.27 years, height: 161.13±4.56 cm, and mass: 67.66±4.25 kg, and BMI: 26.11±2.10 kg/m2) were analyzed. Sharpendromberg and time up and go tests were utilized to respectively evaluate static and dynamic balance as well as knee joint position sense. The data were recorded by angular reconstruction and via a digital camera. Balance and sense of status tests were performed for both groups, and ultimately, the results were evaluated utilizing an independent t-test.

The findings revealed a significant difference between static and dynamic balance among the two groups of women (with COVID-19 & healthy) (P<0.05). Moreover, there was a significant difference between knee joint position sense (P<0.05), where the COVID group had 2.64 degrees more reconstruction error than the healthy group.

The static, dynamic balance, and knee joint position sense of the COVID group decreased, which can lead to an increase in the contingency of dropping/falling among these individuals.