Another important finding of the present study was that
women in the OKG displayed increased TKA leg loading
during the bilateral sit-to-stand task. This finding is in
contrast to the reduced TKA leg loading observed during
the sit-to-stand task at 3 months after surgery in older
subjects without symptomatic OA in the contralateral limb
(9). Differences in time from surgery (3 vs. ,38.5 months)
and characteristics of the contralateral leg (asymptomatic vs.
symptomatic OA) in the populations studied are possible
explanations for these discrepant findings (9). The resistance
training program was also effective in reducing the deficits
on lower-limb loading during the sit-to-stand task. The
deficits between the legs improved from 221.2¡4.9% to
29.3¡5.2% loading on the OA leg after the 13-week
resistance training. Because the altered loading distribution
during bilateral tasks observed in the early phase after TKA
may have important long-term consequences for OA
progression in the uninvolved leg (9,10), it appears reasonable
to suggest that the opposite loading pattern observed in
the OKG, which would overload joints of the TKA leg
during daily living bilateral support tasks, may also have
important long-term consequences, including reduced
implant lifespan and early need for revision surgery (32). In
this context, the resistance training-induced improvement in
lower-limb loading may have important clinical implications.