Journal of Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences (May 2024)
Evaluation of the Knee Anatomical Deformities and Its Relationship with Hip Joint
Abstract
Background and purpose: Knee joint disorders are divided into two general categories of traumatic and non-traumatic injuries, including skeletal deformities such as genu valgum (knocked knee) and genu varum (bowed legs). Genu valgum and genu varum are two of the most common deformities of the knee joint. These deformities can directly affect the quality of people's social lives. Considering the importance of determining its rate in the youth community, this study aims to determine the relationship between genu valgum and genu varum with anthropometric indices in elementary school students of Dezful City in 2022. Materials and methods: The current research was cross-sectional-analytical, which was conducted in 2022 at the level of elementary schools in Dezful City on 400 students of girls' and boys' schools between 7 and 11 years old. Patient demographic information, including age, gender, height, weight, family history, and hip joint width, was gathered using a questionnaire. To evaluate the deformation of the lower limb, the participants must stand in a way that the knee is in full extension and the ankles of both legs should be close together so that the patella bones on both sides are facing forward. In this position, deformation of the knee joint (genu valgum and genu varum) was determined by measuring the distances between the medial condyles of the femur and the medial malleolus of the ankle, and its relationship with demographic information was evaluated. Results: The frequency distribution showed that 2.5% of the studied subjects had genu valgum, and 11.5% of them did not have genu varum. These results showed the existence of skeletal disorders in knee joints at the rate of 14% in the studied population. Also, the results of this study showed that only 2.2% of the studied population had a family history of musculoskeletal disorders such as genu valgum and genu varum, and 97.5% of them had no family history, which indicated the absence of a significant relationship between the occurrence of disorders and family history (P=0.187). Results showed that there was a significant relationship between the average age and the observation of genu varum and genu valgum disorder (P<0.001). Also, a significant relationship was observed between height and weight and genu varum and genu valgum (P=0.001). It is noteworthy that a significant relationship was observed between the width of the hip joint with these abnormalities (P<0.05). Conclusion: Although the rate of disorders in the sample population was not very impressive, investigations in this study have confirmed a significant relationship between demographic indicators and knee joint disorders. The existence of a relationship between height, weight, age, and other important anatomical indicators, such as the distance between the hip joint and genu varum and genu valgum, probably indicates the increasing trend of observing these disorders in society with growth and changes in the skeletal framework, which requires further evaluation. The findings of this research can be utilized by health policy institutions to mitigate the prevalence of this condition, particularly among the younger population, through implementing suitable plans and strategies.
