@article{ref1,
title="Effect of knee brace type on braking response time during automobile driving",
journal="Arthroscopy",
year="2014",
author="Dammerer, Dietmar and Giesinger, Johannes M. and Biedermann, Rainer and Haid, Christian and Krismer, Martin and Liebensteiner, Michael",
volume="31",
number="3",
pages="404-409",
abstract="PURPOSE: To assess driving ability (brake response time [BRT]) with commonly used knee braces. <br><br>METHODS: Sixty-four healthy participants (32 women and 32 men) participated in our study. BRT was assessed using a custom-made driving simulator. We assessed BRT for 5 different commonly used knee braces (right leg) used in 9 different settings: without a knee brace (control group); with a typical postoperative knee brace with adjustable range of motion (ROM) and the settings of 0° to 30°, 0° to 60°, 0° to 90°, and 20° to 90° (extension and flexion); and with an unloading knee brace for moderate to severe unicompartmental osteoarthritis, an orthosis for ligament instabilities, a knee brace for patellofemoral disorders, and an elastic knee bandage. <br><br>RESULTS: The 64 participants (mean age, 33.5 years) showed significantly impaired BRT with the typical postoperative brace set at an ROM of 0° to 30° (673 milliseconds, P <.001), ROM of 0° to 60° (629 milliseconds, P <.001), ROM of 0° to 90° (607 milliseconds, P =.001), and ROM of 20° to 90° (602 milliseconds, P =.005) compared with the control group. However, no such impaired BRT was found for any other investigated knee brace. <br><br>CONCLUSIONS: Right-sided ROM-restricting knee braces involve significant impairment of BRT in healthy participants. No such prolonged BRT was found for a patellofemoral realignment brace, a ligament brace, a valgus/osteoarthritis brace, or an elastic knee bandage. However, our findings should be viewed in light of the limitations of the study, which are (1) the lack of a defined decrease in BRT that could lead to an accident and (2) uncertainty of whether the statistical differences are also clinically important. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level II, lesser-quality randomized controlled trial.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="0749-8063",
doi="10.1016/j.arthro.2014.09.003",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.arthro.2014.09.003"
}