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. 2021 Sep 30;9(10):1308.
doi: 10.3390/healthcare9101308.

Self-Reported Walking Difficulty Associated with Stiff-Knee Gait in Japanese Patients with Knee Osteoarthritis: A Preliminary Cross-Sectional Study

Haruki Toda  1 , Tsubasa Maruyama  1 , Koji Fujita  2 , Yuki Yamauchi  3 , Mitsunori Tada  1
Affiliations

Self-Reported Walking Difficulty Associated with Stiff-Knee Gait in Japanese Patients with Knee Osteoarthritis: A Preliminary Cross-Sectional Study

Haruki Toda et al. Healthcare (Basel). .

Abstract

Background: Individuals with knee osteoarthritis are restricted in their daily activity because of walking difficulty. The purpose of this investigation was to examine the association between self-reported walking difficulty and knee flexion excursion during gait in Japanese patients with knee osteoarthritis.

Methods: Twenty-eight patients with knee osteoarthritis participated in this study. Knee flexion excursions in loading response and swing during gait were measured through an inertial measurement unit-based motion capture system. The walking difficulty was assessed by a subitem in the Japanese Knee Osteoarthritis Measure. Pain intensity was assessed by a visual analog scale. Characteristics and gait variables were compared between groups that were determined a priori using the results of the walking difficulty assessment. The relationship between knee flexion excursion during gait and walking difficulty were analyzed using logistic regression.

Results: The participants with walking difficulty had significantly small knee flexion excursion in both loading response and swing with large pain. After controlling the effect of pain, only knee flexion excursion in the swing was significantly related to the walking difficulty.

Conclusions: This study suggested that the knee flexion excursion in swing during gait is helpful for understanding the walking difficulty experienced in Japanese patients with knee osteoarthritis.

Keywords: gait; inertial measurement unit; knee flexion excursion; knee osteoarthritis; motion capture; swing; walking difficulty.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Typical knee flexion angle of a subject in one gait cycle. The knee flexion excursions were calculated from the amplitude of displacement from the peak extension angle to the peak flexion angle during the loading response and swing phase.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Comparison of knee flexion excursions in loading response and swing between the groups with walking difficulty (Diff) and without walking difficulty (non-Diff).
Figure 3
Figure 3
Graphical abstract of this study. Self-reported walking difficulty in Japanese patients with knee osteoarthritis was associated with the knee flexion excursion in the swing. The knee flexion excursion in the loading response is not related to the walking difficulty after controlling for the factor of knee pain. Odds ratios (OR) with their 95% confidence intervals (CI) are provided.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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