Abstract
Objective: To determine the reliability of the measurement of net joint power during repeated gait measurements within one day and between two different measurement days. Methods: Thirty able-bodied men who underwent repeated gait measurements within a day and between days participated in this research. An acceptable trial was one in which the participant complied with the range of walking speed 1.45 m/s ± 5%. Three-dimensional angles, angular velocities, net moments of force and net power for the ankle, knee and hip joints were determined using external passive reflective markers, an 8-camera motion analysis system and two force plates. Results: This study presents the patterns of the net power in the fundamental joints of the lower limbs in young healthy men at standard gait velocity. Intraclass correlation coefficients for net joint power measure reached values in the range of .70 to .89 on the first day, from .69 to .86 on the second day, and from .67 to .83 in total. Conclusion: The reliability of the measurement of the peak net joint power within one day and between the two measurement days was evaluated as satisfactory. The study provides the value of minimal detectable change for the peak net power of the lower limb in the sagittal plane during gait. The net joint power appears to be a reliable measure and could be used in practice.
Highlights
In advanced countries, gait analysis has become an integral part of the decision-making process for rehabilitation physicians, orthopedists and kinanthropologists
The ability to detect real changes in gait biomechanics is limited by the methodology of data collection (Cappozzo, Croce, Leardini, & Chiari, 2005) and by the natural variability of human movement (Bartlett, Wheat, & Robins, 2007; Hamill, van Emmerik, Heiderscheit, & Li, 1999)
The net joint power of the lower limbs depends on gait velocity (Chen, Kuo, & Andriacchi, 1997)
Summary
Gait analysis has become an integral part of the decision-making process for rehabilitation physicians, orthopedists and kinanthropologists. Sadeghi, Allard, Prince, and Labelle (2000) describe net muscle power transferred by the lower limb joints during gait as a valuable indicator of the ability to accelerate the. The net joint power of the lower limbs depends on gait velocity (Chen, Kuo, & Andriacchi, 1997). When measuring net joint power in a mixed group, a certain degree of heteroscedasticity can be expected due to varying amounts of subcutaneous fat in men and women (Bazzocchi et al, 2012). Extensive subcutaneous fat and skin movements cause errors when taking measurements using the method of optoelectronic stereophotogrammetry (Leardini, Chiari, Croce, & Cappozzo, 2005). The values of the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC), or values pertaining to minimal detectable change or typical errors in measurement, can be distorted by the heteroscedasticity
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