The effect of age and speed on foot and ankle kinematics assessed using a 4-segment foot model

Sander van Hoeve*, Bernard Leenstra, Paul Willems, Martijn Poeze, Kenneth Meijer

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

Background: The effects of age and speed on foot and ankle kinematics in gait studies using foot models are not fully understood, whereas this can have significant influence. We analyzed these variables with the 4-segment Oxford foot model.

Methods: Twenty-one healthy subjects (aged 20-65 years) were recruited for gait analysis. The effect of speed on foot and ankle kinematics was assessed by comparing results during slow walking and fast walking. To assess the effect of age, a group of 13 healthy young adults (aged 20-24 years) were compared with a group of 8 older adults (aged 53-65 years). Also, the interaction between age and speed was analyzed.

Results: Regarding speed, there was a significant difference between forefoot/hindfoot motion in the sagittal plane (flexion/extension) during both loading-and push-off phase (P=.004, P

Conclusion: Our analysis found that speed significantly influenced the kinematic outcome parameters. This was more pronounced in the ankle joint. In contrast, no significant differences were found between younger and older healthy subjects.

Original languageEnglish
Article number7907
Number of pages7
JournalMedicine
Volume96
Issue number35
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Sept 2017

Keywords

  • age
  • clinical biomechanics
  • gait
  • multi-segment foot model
  • speed
  • JOINT COORDINATE SYSTEM
  • GAIT SPEED
  • NORMAL-CHILDREN
  • WALKING SPEED
  • HIP
  • MECHANICS
  • REPEATABILITY
  • MOTION
  • ADULTS

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