Abstract
We have studied patients with Joint Hypermobility Syndrome (JHS) admitted to the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital (RNOH) for a three-week in-patient rehabilitation programme. Ten patients were investigated at the start and end of this programme, and so far eight patients have been followed up at three months review. Postural stability was measured using a force plate, and the path of the centre of force (CoF) was tracked while patients were asked to attempt a series of more challenging tasks: double leg stance with eyes open and then with eyes closed, followed by single leg stance with eyes open and closed. Patients also completed a number of questionnaires at the same time points. We found the results of the double stance eyes closed test of postural stability to be the most informative. The ellipse area (EA) containing 95% of the points of the path of the CoF decreased from 21.5 + 14.8 cm2 to 9.0 + 11.5 cm2 over the course of the in-patient programme. In the eight patients followed up at three months, EA has remained the same (9.6 + 14.6 cm2). We conclude that the effects of the exercise programme and advice on subsequent exercise can be maintained over three months.
