Article

The carrying of extra weight can cause significant injuries. This extra weight
can be in the form of an external load carried by an individual or excessive body
weight carried by an overweight individual. This study attempts to define the
differences in lower body gait patterns caused by either external load carriage,
excessive body weight, or a combination of both. Twenty-three subjects generated
115 trials of motion capture data for each loading condition. Path lengths of the
phase portrait and the ranges of joint motions (hip, knee and ankle) were used to
quantify subgroup differences. The study found significant gait differences due
to external load carriage and excessive body weight. Within each class of normal
weight and overweight subjects, differences were found in the hip and ankle path
lengths when a subject carried an evenly distributed external load. This implies
that these joints may be more prone to injury due to external load carriage.
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Langue : ANGLAIS