Osteoarthritis Causes

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The study conducted by Hofmann et al. (2014) investigated how osteoarthritis of the knee or hip may affect driving ability after surgery. The study was carried out in the Orthopaedic surgery department of the University Hospital of Tubingen, where 54 patients with this condition were recruited as well as 21 healthy individuals that conformed the control group. It was a pre-requisite for all the participants to have a valid driver’s licence. The patients with osteoarthritis (OA), were divided in 4 groups according to were the disease was present (right knee, left knee, right hip, left hip). The participants were asked to drive in an automobile simulator which measured Total Break Response Time (TBRT). It was found that TBRT was delayed for patients with OA on the right knee, left knee and right hip. The patients with OA of the left hip showed no …show more content…
Prior the commencement of the study, the researchers obtained an approval by the institutional and ethical committee of the University of Tubingen, they also handed a written informed consent to all the participants taking part in the experiment, which was signed by all of them. The participants were informed they could withdraw whenever they wanted.
The experimental conditions were safe and could not harm the participants. The researchers equipped a static car cabin with a simulator that measured TBRT, but it could not cause any harm to the person that was using it. The researchers also taught the participants how to use the simulator and made 3 practice trials to ensure correct use of the equipment and to prevent any risks.
The results are reliable as the researchers presented all the data in tables, even the non-significant values. This would be not the case if there was any trimming or manipulation of the