2004 Volume 31 Issue 1 Pages 86-94
We describe a method of quantifying the movement of the leg in walking. The purpose of the present investigation was to characterize normal knees and knees affected by osteoarthritis. Nine participants with symptomatic knee OA and 10 asymptomatic controls were studied. Three axis accelerometers were placed on the skin over caput fibulae and malleolus lateralis, and acceleration measurements were obtained during level walking. The magnitude and temporal characteristics of acceleration and velocity were significantly different between the two groups. This study demonstrated differences in the acceleration power spectra of participants with knee OA when compared with control group. These findings sustain a growing belief among health professionals that impairments in movement of leg and motor control have important associations with knee OA. Our results suggest that knee OA may be associated with an alteration in the acceleration product across the leg during walking. Noninvasive acceleration measurements can characterize the normal and knee OA.
