Article

Carrying loads while walking or using stairs is a common activity of daily
living. Knee osteoarthritis is associated with increased external knee adduction
moment (KAM) during walking, so understanding how the additional challenges of
stairs and carrying loads impact these moments is of value. Sixteen healthy
individuals performed three types of MOTION (walking, stair ascent, stair
descent) under three LOAD conditions (no load, carrying a 13.6kg front load,
carrying 13.6 kg load in a backpack). Three-dimensional gait analysis was used to
measure KAM. Results of ANOVA showed a significant main effect of both MOTION and
LOAD on peak KAM (p<0.001), but no significant MOTIONxLOAD interaction (p=0.250).
Peak KAM during stair ascent was about two-times those seen in stair descent
(p<0.001) and was significantly higher than those seen in walking (p<0.001).
Conditions with LOAD generated significantly greater KAM as compared to the
no-LOAD conditions (p<0.001). These findings suggest that carrying a load of
moderate magnitude while climbing stairs significantly increases the peak KAM - a
risk factor associated with knee osteoarthritis.
CI - Copyright (c) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Langue : ANGLAIS