Kinetics, kinematics, and knee muscle activation during sit to stand transition in unilateral and bilateral knee osteoarthritis

•Uni/bilateral knee osteoarthritis influences in the sit to stand transition biomechanics in the sagittal plane.•Those with bilateral knee osteoarthritis got up with lower total support moment.•Those with bilateral knee osteoarthritis got up with greater trunk flexion.•The differences were found during the body extension to reach the vertical position.•There was no asymmetry between the lower limbs or muscle activation differences.