Abstract
BackgroundThe purpose of this study was to analyze kinematic trunk motion data in normal adults and to investigate gender effect.MethodsKinematic trunk motion data were obtained for 20 healthy subjects (11 men and 9 women; age from 21 to 40 years) during walking a 9 m long lane at a self selected speed, namely, motions in the sagittal (tilt), coronal (obliquity), and transverse (rotation) planes, which were all expressed as motions in global (relative to the ground) and those in pelvic reference frame (relative to pelvis), i.e., tilt (G), obliquity (G), rotation (G), tilt (P), obliquity (P), rotation (P).ResultsRange of tilt (G), obliquity (G) and rotation (G) showed smaller motion than that of tilt (P), obliquity (P) and rotation (P), respectively. When genders were compared, female trunks showed a 5 degree more extended posture during gait than male trunks (p = 0.002), which appeared to be caused by different lumbar lordosis. Ranges of coronal and transverse plane motion appeared to be correlated. In gait cycle, the trunk motion appeared to counterbalance the lower extremity during swing phase in sagittal plane, and to reduce the angular velocity toward the contralateral side immediate before the contralateral heel strike in the coronal plane.ConclusionsMen and women showed different lumbar lordosis during normal gait, which might be partly responsible for the different prevalence of lumbar diseases between genders. However, this needs further investigation.
Highlights
The purpose of this study was to analyze kinematic trunk motion data in normal adults and to investigate gender effect
The motion or posture that we considered lumbar lordosis might have originated in part from the intratruncal movement
We mainly focused on kinematic trunk motion data
Summary
The purpose of this study was to analyze kinematic trunk motion data in normal adults and to investigate gender effect. Trunk motion has not attracted much attention from those interested in three dimensional gait analysis, because this motion is relatively small and is generally thought to be passive and to depend on lower extremity motion. Some recent studies have shown that trunk posture and motion can influence gait patterns of the lower extremity [1] and alter energy expenditure in the pathologic gait compared to a normal gait [2]. The role of trunk motion in balance and proprioceptive function in gait [3,4] is being investigated by studying pathologic gait in patients with neurological, vestibular, or musculoskeletal diseases [5,6,7].
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