• Journal of The Korean Society of Integrative Medicine
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.139-147
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• 2020

Purpose : Proprioceptive position sense plays a key role in providing joint stability, and multiple factors are related to proprioceptive position sense. Thus, this study aimed to determine the effects of body composition, particularly skeletal muscle mass on proprioceptive position sense following muscle fatigue. Methods : Healthy female subjects agreed to have their body composition analyzed. Only subjects who had 18.5-22.9 kg/㎡ of BMI (body mass index) were included in this study, and the participants were divided into two groups by skeletal muscle mass level. The experimental group had a level of skeletal muscle lower than the standard level (n=9), while the control group showed a standard or high level of skeletal muscle mass (n=11). To determine the change in proprioceptive position sense of the knee joint, the absolute angle error (AAE) was evaluated following muscle fatigue on low extremity. The muscle fatigue was induced by isokinetic resistance exercise program of Biodex system. AAE was measured by the Biodex system and compared the result before and after muscle fatigue. Results : The experimental group showed a significant AAE difference between before (3.16±2.48 °) and after (5.40±2.61 °) muscle fatigue. In addition, there was a AAE difference between the experimental (5.40±2.61 °) and control groups (3.53±1.67 °) after fatigue; however, there was no significance. Those results indicated that low level of skeletal muscle mass might influence the proprioceptive position sense of the knee joint after muscle fatigue. Conclusion : Thus, maintaining the proper level of skeletal muscle mass is pivotal to reduce the risk of injury following muscle fatigue in ADL or sport activities.