| Knee osteoarthritis (OA) is a severely disabling disease affecting 2--3 times more females than males. Biomechanical differences in gait between males and females may be associated with this increased prevalence. Research examining the interaction between sex and OA is lacking, therefore I investigated the gait biomechanics of healthy males (n = 18), healthy females (n = 24), males with knee OA (n = 24) and females with knee OA (n = 15). This is the first study to report that moderate knee OA is associated with changes in certain gait biomechanics in females that do not occur in males.; Three dimensional gait analysis was used to quantify the angles and moments at the hip, knee and ankle for the four groups. I found differences between sexes, and between OA and healthy subjects that are consistent with previous research. However, the primary objective was to determine if an interaction between sex and OA exists in gait biomechanics. I found that OA females generate less torque at the knee and ankle and less range of motion at the knee, while OA males maintain mechanics closer to normal.; My second objective was to determine if these biomechanical differences were due to differences in clinical variables or radiographic disease severity. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)... |
