Abstract
Purpose: To compare the regularity and symmetry of gait between a cohort of older adults with bilateral knee osteoarthritis (OA) and an age and sex-matched control group of older adults with healthy knees.Methods: Fifteen (8 females) older adults with knee OA (64.7 ± 6.7 years) and fifteen (8 females) pain-free controls (66.1 ± 10.0 years) completed a 9-min. walk at a self-selected, comfortable speed while wearing a single waist-mounted tri-axial accelerometer. The following gait parameters were compared between the two groups according to sex: mean step time, mean stride time, stride and step regularity (defined as the consistency of the stride-to-stride or step-to-step pattern) and the symmetry of gait (defined as the difference between step and stride regularity) as determined by an unbiased autocorrelation procedure that analyzed the pattern of acceleration in the vertical, mediolateral and anteroposterior directions.Results: Older adults with knee OA displayed significantly less step regularity in the vertical (p < 0.05) and anteroposterior (p < 0.05) directions than controls. Females with knee OA were also found to have significantly less mediolateral step regularity than female controls (p < 0.05), whereas no difference was found between males.Conclusion: The results showed that the regularity of the step pattern in individuals with bilateral knee OA was less consistent compared to similarly-aged older adults with healthy knees. The findings suggest that future studies should investigate the relationship between step regularity, sex and movement direction as well as the application of these methods to the clinical assessment of knee OA.
Highlights
The ability to locomote is a fundamental activity for all humans, and is an essential component of maintaining independence and a healthy quality of life
Significant group main effects were found for step regularity in the vertical [F(1,26) = 5.28, p = 0.030, ηp2 = 0.169] and anteroposterior directions [F(1,26) = 5.77, p = 0.024, ηp2 = 0.182], indicating that the steps of both males and females with knee OA were completed with less regularity than control participants
This study found that males and females with knee OA possessed significantly less vertical and anteroposterior step regularity than -aged control group participants with pain-free knees
Summary
The ability to locomote is a fundamental activity for all humans, and is an essential component of maintaining independence and a healthy quality of life. It is understood that the physiological changes that accompany aging in the last decades of life increasingly challenge the neuromuscular system to maintain consistent levels of mobility. Often these changes are exacerbated by other disease mechanisms or processes in one or more systems, to the extent that gait function can be severely compromised. Gait Regularity and Symmetry in Knee Osteoarthritis (Baliunas et al, 2002). It affects millions of people worldwide, with knee OA being the most common in terms of prevalence (6% of adults > 30 years of age) (Zhang and Jordan, 2008). In addition to changes in mean spatiotemporal gait parameters, other studies have shown that knee OA is associated with changes in the variability of these parameters and the basic movement patterns that comprise the gait cycle (Kiss, 2011; Tochigi et al, 2012)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
