Objective To explore the proprioception characteristics of knee joints for knee osteoarthritis (KOA) patients before unicondylar knee arthroplasty (UKA) and total knee arthroplasty (TKA). Methods Twenty-nine single-compartment KOA patients were selected. Fifteen patients were treated with UKA (UKA group) and fourteen patients were treated with TKA (TKA group). The test was performed 1 to 3 days before the operation.The keen society scores (KSS) of KOA patients in UKA group and TKA group were compared, and their joint position sense and kinesthesia were compared with control group. Results Significant differences in KSS were found in TKA group and UKA group, and the knee joint position sense and kinesthesia showed no significant differences between TKA group and UKA group.There were no significant differences in the knee joint position sense and kinesthesia between the operated leg and unoperated leg in TKA group and UKA group, and between the left leg and right leg in control group. Compared with control group, there were significant differences between UKA group and TKA group in 60° position sense of the operated leg and unoperated leg.The kinesthesia of the operated leg and unoperated leg in UKA group and TKA group were also significantly different from that in control group. Conclusions Compared with control group, the proprioception of the knee joint in KOA patients was significantly reduced before the surgery, but the characteristics of proprioception in UKA group and TKA group were similar.