Intra- and interlimb effects of gait retraining in individuals with knee hyperextension.

Background: Gait retraining, which typically focuses on the most severely affected limb or joint, has shown promising results in treating faulty running and walking patterns. The closed-chain nature of gait during the stance phase may influence kinematic changes in the adjacent joints of the trained leg. In addition, the coupled nature of the lower extremity motion of gait suggests that changes in one leg may transfer to the other.

Effects of gait retraining in knee joint position sense.

Background: Joint position sense (JPS) is crucial for maintaining posture, protecting joints, and carrying out daily activities such as walking. Studies show that exercises to strengthen muscles and improve proprioception can positively impact JPS during passive and less complex activities. Evidence suggests that motor training can effectively enhance sensory function, including JPS, due to the extensive connections between the motor cortex and somatosensory areas.

The effects of adiposity, muscular strength, cardiorespiratory fitness, and fatigue on gait biomechanics in overweight and obese children.

Background: Obesity rates continue to increase in the child population. Muscular strength, cardiorespiratory fitness, and fatigue can potentially affect joint stresses in obese children. The purposes are to examine: (1) the relationship between cardiorespiratory fitness and the change in joint stress pre- to post-fatigue; (2) the predictive value of fitness, adiposity, and muscular strength on joint stresses in fatigued and non-fatigued states; and, (3) the relationships between % body fat from skinfold and air displacement plethysmography.

Do fitness and fatigue affect gait biomechanics in overweight and obese children?

Unlabelled: The purpose of this study was to determine how an overweight or obese child's cardiorespiratory fitness level and a state of fatigue affect gait biomechanics.

Methods: Using a three-dimensional motion analysis system, twenty-nine (female and male) overweight and obese children aged 8-11 years walked on force plates before and after being fatigued from the Progressive Aerobic Cardiovascular Endurance Run (PACER) protocol. Joint moments were calculated for the knee and hip in the frontal and sagittal planes.

Short and long-term effects of gait retraining using real-time biofeedback to reduce knee hyperextension pattern in young women.

The use of real-time biofeedback has been shown to enable individuals to make changes to their gait patterns. It remains unknown whether the short-term improvements reported in previous studies are retained in the longer term. In this study, the paradigm used to investigate the short and long-term effects of real-time biofeedback was modifying knee range of motion during gait to prevent knee hyperextension in women.

Changes in Gait over a 30-min Walking Session in Obese Females.

Purpose: This study assessed the biomechanical gait changes in obese and normal-weight female adult subjects after a commonly recommended 30-min walking session. Hip and knee adduction and extensor moments, which are the primary modulators of frontal and sagittal plane load distribution, were hypothesized to increase in obese females after a 30-min walking period, resulting in more stress across the hip and knee joint.

Methods: Ten obese (37.

Biomechanical loads during common rehabilitation exercises in obese individuals.

Background: Squats and lunges are commonly prescribed rehabilitation exercises used to improve performance across a wide spectrum of patient populations. However, biomechanical studies have mainly examined young, normal weight populations performing these exercises at a difficulty level potentially too challenging for obese individuals. Understanding how obesity and different levels of difficulty affect lower extremity biomechanics could help to inform rehabilitation approaches used for obese individuals.

Intensive Gait Training for Older Adults with Symptomatic Knee Osteoarthritis.

Objective: The objective of this study was to determine whether individualized gait training is more effective than usual care for reducing mobility disability and pain in individuals with symptomatic knee osteoarthritis.

Design: Adults aged 60 yrs or older with symptomatic knee osteoarthritis and mobility limitations were randomized to physical therapist-directed gait training on an instrumented treadmill, with biofeedback individualized to optimize knee movements, biweekly for 3 mos or usual care (control). Mobility disability was defined using Late Life Function and Disability Index Basic Lower Limb Function score (primary); mobility limitations, using timed 400-m walk, chair-stand, and stair-climb tests; and symptoms, using the Knee Injury/Osteoarthritis Outcome Score at baseline, as well as at 3, 6, and 12 mos.

Long-term results of tibialis anterior tendon transfer for relapsed idiopathic clubfoot treated with the Ponseti method: a follow-up of thirty-seven to fifty-five years.

Background: Relapse of idiopathic clubfoot deformity after treatment can be effectively managed with repeat casting and tibialis anterior tendon transfer during early childhood. We evaluated the long-term effects on adult foot function after tibialis anterior tendon transfer for relapsed idiopathic clubfoot deformity during childhood.

Methods: Thirty-five patients (sixty clubfeet) in whom idiopathic clubfoot was treated with the Ponseti method from 1950 to 1967 were followed.

Home-based treadmill training to improve gait performance in persons with a chronic transfemoral amputation.

Objective: To investigate the effectiveness of a home-based multiple-speed treadmill training program to improve gait performance in persons with a transfemoral amputation (TFA).

Design: Repeated measures.

Setting: Research laboratory.

Estimates of gastrocnemius muscle length during simulated pathological gait.

The purpose of this study was to compare estimates of gastrocnemius muscle length (GML) obtained using a segmented versus straight-line model in children. Kinematic data were acquired on eleven typically developing children as they walked under the following conditions: normal gait, crouch gait, equinus gait, and crouch with equinus gait. Maximum and minimum GML, and GML change were calculated using two models: straight-line and segmented.

Abdomen-thigh contact during forward reaching tasks in obese individuals.

During seated forward reaching tasks in obese individuals, excessive abdominal tissue can come into contact with the anterior thigh. This soft tissue apposition acts as a mechanical restriction, altering functional biomechanics at the hip, and causing difficulty in certain daily activities such as bending down, or picking up objects from the floor. The purpose of the study was to investigate the contact forces and associated moments exerted by the abdomen on the thigh during seated forward-reaching tasks in adult obese individuals.

Pregnancy leads to lasting changes in foot structure.

Objective: Women are disproportionately affected by musculoskeletal disorders. Parous women seem to be at a particularly elevated risk for structural and functional changes in the lower limbs. The combination of increased weight on the joints with potentially greater laxity during pregnancy could lead to permanent structural changes in the feet.

Association between chair stand strategy and mobility limitations in older adults with symptomatic knee osteoarthritis.

Objective: To determine which lower limb strength and joint kinetic and kinematic parameters distinguish sit-to-stand (STS) performance of older adults with symptomatic knee osteoarthritis (OA) with higher and lower chair stand time.

Design: Cross-sectional.

Setting: Motion analysis laboratory.

Morbid obesity may increase dislocation in total hip patients: a biomechanical analysis.

Background: Obesity has reached epidemic proportions in the United States. Recently, obesity, especially morbid obesity, has been linked to increased rates of dislocation after THA. The reasons are unclear.

Kinematics and kinetics during gait in symptomatic and asymptomatic limbs of children with myelomeningocele.

Background: Knee pain and early arthrosis have emerged as significant problems in young adults with myelomeningocele (MMC). The purpose of our study was to examine kinematics and kinetics during gait in symptomatic and asymptomatic limbs of children with an MMC to better understand the factors that may predispose individuals with an MMC to potentially debilitating knee problems.

Methods: Seven children with L3-L4 level MMC and 8 age-matched typically-developing control children participated in this study.

Efficacy of gait training with real-time biofeedback in correcting knee hyperextension patterns in young women.

Study Design: Single cohort study.

Objectives: To investigate the efficacy of real-time biofeedback provided during treadmill gait training to correct knee hyperextension in asymptomatic females while walking.

Background: Knee hyperextension is associated with increased stress to the posterior capsule of the knee joint, anterior cruciate ligament, and the anterior compartment of the tibiofemoral joint.

A new device for assessing ankle dorsiflexion motion: reliability and validity.

Study Design: Clinical measurement.

Objective: To determine the validity and reliability of measures obtained using a custom-made device for assessing ankle dorsiflexion motion and stiffness.

Background: Limited dorsiflexion has been implicated in the evolution of foot pain in a number of clinical populations.

The effect of arch height on kinematic coupling during walking.

The purpose of the current study was to assess kinematic coupling within the foot in individuals across a range of arch heights. Seventeen subjects participated in this study. Weight-bearing lateral radiographs were used to measure the arch height, defined as angle between the 1st metatarsal and the calcaneus.

Dairy farm worker exposure to awkward knee posture during milking and feeding tasks.

Musculoskeletal disorders are common among agricultural workers, particularly among dairy farm workers. Specifically, dairy farm workers have been identified as being at risk for knee osteoarthritis. Physical risk factors that may contribute to knee osteoarthritis include awkward postures of the knee, such as kneeling or squatting.

Relationships between segmental foot mobility and plantar loading in individuals with and without diabetes and neuropathy.

The purpose of our study was to examine dynamic foot function during gait as it relates to plantar loading in individuals with DM (diabetes mellitus and neuropathy) compared to matched control subjects. Foot mobility during gait was examined using a multi-segment kinematic model, and plantar loading was measured using a pedobarograph in subjects with DM (N = 15), control subjects (N = 15). Pearson product moment correlation was used to assess the relationship between variables of interest.

Association of dynamic joint power with functional limitations in older adults with symptomatic knee osteoarthritis.

Objectives: To determine which lower-limb joint moments and powers characterize the level of gait performance of older adults with symptomatic knee osteoarthritis (OA).

Design: Cross-sectional observational study.

Setting: University motion analysis laboratory.

Weight, rather than obesity distribution, explains peak external knee adduction moment during level gait.

Objective: To determine whether a lower-body obesity pattern increases estimated forces on the medial compartment of the knee joint.

Design: Cross-sectional clinical biomechanical study.

Results: Nineteen normal weight (body mass index, 22.

Effects of concurrent use of an ankle support with a laterally wedged insole for medial knee osteoarthritis.

Objective: To determine the biomechanical and symptomatic effects of concurrent use of an ankle support and a laterally wedged insole on adults with symptomatic medial compartment knee osteoarthritis.

Design: Randomized, crossover clinical trial.

Setting: Outpatient gait analysis laboratory.

Segmental foot mobility in individuals with and without diabetes and neuropathy.

Background: Impairment in intrinsic foot mobility has been identified as an important potential contributor to altered foot function in individuals with diabetes mellitus and neuropathy, however the role of limited foot mobility in gait remains poorly understood. The purpose of our study was to examine segmental foot mobility during gait in subjects with and without diabetes and neuropathy.

Methods: Segmental foot mobility during gait was examined using a multi-segment kinematic foot model in subjects with diabetes (n=15) and non-diabetic control subjects (n=15).