Abstract
[Purpose] The aim of this study was to clarify the characteristics of external knee adduction moment of knee osteoarthritis (KOA) sufferers using principal component analysis. [Subjects] The subjects were 19 limbs of 10 women with KOA and 10 limbs of 10 middle-aged women without knee joint pain. [Method] The movement task was gait initiation, and we calculated the external knee adduction moment of the stance limb using a 3D motion analysis system and a force plate. Then, we performed a between group comparison of the principal components obtained by principal component analysis of the temporal changes in external knee adduction moment during gait initiation. [Results] In the between group comparison of the first three principal components, we found a significant difference between the KOA group and the controls only for the first principal component. [Conclusion] In this study, we revealed that the external knee adduction moment of KOA sufferers is consistently large from the start of gait initiation. Accordingly, it is necessary to consider the status of lower limb alignment during standing, as it is one of the factors influencing the magnitude of external knee adduction moment of KOA patients.
