Publications by authors named "Kari L Loverro"

Individuals with hip osteoarthritis (OA) commonly walk with less hip extension compared to individuals without hip OA. This alteration is often attributed to walking speed, structural limitation, and/or hip pain. It is unclear if individuals who are at increased risk for future OA (i.

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Pelvic drop is caused by decreased hip abductor muscle activity and is associated with lower-extremity injury. Hip abductor strengthening exercises are well established; however, no standard method exists to increase hip abductor activity during functional activities. The purpose of this research was to study the effects of walking with a unilateral weight.

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Context: The single-legged squat (SLS) is appropriate for targeting activation, strengthening, and neuromuscular retraining of the gluteus maximus, gluteus medius, and quadriceps. However, the effects of different nonstance-limb positions on muscle activity have not been fully evaluated.

Objective: To compare the muscle activity of selected stance-limb hip muscles during the SLS using 3 nonstance-limb positions: in front (SLS-Front), in the middle (SLS-Middle), and in back (SLS-Back).

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A growing body of research has shown that static stance control (e.g., body sway) is influenced by cognitive demands (CD), an effect that may be related to competition for limited central resources.

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The purpose of this study was to determine if females and males use different hip and knee mechanics when walking with standardized military-relevant symmetric loads. Fifteen females and fifteen males walked on a treadmill for 2-min at a constant speed under three symmetric load conditions (unloaded: 1.71 kg, medium: 15 kg, heavy: 26 kg).

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Background: Individuals with developmental dysplasia of the hip (DDH) often report hip pain and exhibit gait adaptations. Previous studies in this patient population have focused on average kinematic and acceleration measures during gait, but have not examined variability.

Research Question: Do individuals with hip pain and DDH have altered kinematic variability or local dynamic stability (LDS) compared to individuals without hip pain?

Methods: Twelve individuals with hip pain and DDH and 12 matched controls walked for two minutes on a treadmill at three speeds: preferred, fast (25% faster than preferred), and prescribed (1.

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Background Femoroacetabular impingement (FAI) syndrome may affect gait kinematics differently between males and females. Objectives To investigate whether individuals with FAI syndrome have different hip and pelvic motion during gait, at their preferred speed and a prescribed speed, compared to individuals of the same sex without pain. Methods Twenty-one participants (11 males and 10 females) with FAI syndrome and 41 participants (19 males and 22 females) without hip pain were included in this case-control laboratory study.

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Study Design Controlled laboratory study, case-control design. Background Despite recognition that femoroacetabular impingement syndrome (FAIS) is a movement-related disorder, few studies have examined dynamic unilateral tasks in individuals with FAIS. Objectives To determine whether movements of the pelvis and lower extremities in individuals with FAIS differ from those in individuals without hip pain during a single-leg step-down, and to analyze kinematic differences between male and female participants within groups.

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The shift to habitual bipedalism 4-6 million years ago in the hominin lineage created a morphologically and functionally different human pelvis compared to our closest living relatives, the chimpanzees. Evolutionary changes to the shape of the pelvis were necessary for the transition to habitual bipedalism in humans. These changes in the bony anatomy resulted in an altered role of muscle function, influencing bipedal gait.

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During pregnancy, the female body experiences structural changes, such as weight gain. As pregnancy advances, most of the additional mass is concentrated anteriorly on the lower trunk. The purpose of this study is to analyze kinematic and kinetic changes when load is added anteriorly to the trunk, simulating a physical change experienced during pregnancy.

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The single leg squat and single leg step down are two commonly used functional tasks to assess movement patterns. It is unknown how kinematics compare between these tasks. The purpose of this study was to identify kinematic differences in the lower extremity, pelvis and trunk between the single leg squat and the step down.

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The purpose of this evaluation was to examine how increasing body armor protection with and without a fighting load impacted soldiers' performance and mobility. Thirteen male soldiers performed one performance (repeated 30-m rushing) and three mobility tasks (walk, walk over and walk under) with three different body armor configurations and an anterior fighting load. Increasing body armor protection, decreased soldier performance, as individual and total 30-m rush times were significantly longer with greater protection.

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Minimum foot clearance (MFC) as it relates to trips and falls has been extensively studied across many locomotor tasks, but examination of this body of research yields several studies with conflicting results and a wide range of MFCs within tasks. While there are several factors that may affect the MFC variability across studies (populations studied, environmental conditions, etc.), one aspect of the discrepancies in the literature may be the result of different placements of shoe markers and/or MFC calculation methods.

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