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. 2024 Jun;17(2):e12027.
doi: 10.1002/jfa2.12027.

The relationship of peak ankle dorsiflexion angle with lower extremity biomechanics during walking

Tianyu Gao  1   2 , Zhengye Ma  1 , Nan Yang  1   2 , Si Zhang  1 , Haitao Shi  1   2 , Hua Zhang  3 , Shuang Ren  1 , Hongshi Huang  1   2
Affiliations

The relationship of peak ankle dorsiflexion angle with lower extremity biomechanics during walking

Tianyu Gao et al. J Foot Ankle Res. 2024 Jun.

Abstract

Purpose: Abnormal lower limb movement patterns have been observed during walking in individuals with limited ankle dorsiflexion. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships of peak ankle dorsiflexion angle during the stance phase of walking with the lower extremity biomechanics at the corresponding moment and to determine a cutoff value of functional limited ankle dorsiflexion during walking.

Methods: Kinematic and kinetic data of 70 healthy participants were measured during walking. Spearman's correlation coefficients were calculated to establish the association between peak ankle dorsiflexion and angle and moment of ankle, knee, and hip, ground reaction force, and pelvic movement at peak ankle dorsiflexion. All variables significantly related to peak ankle dorsiflexion were extracted as a common factor by factor analysis. Maximally selected Wilcoxon statistic was used to perform a cutoff value analysis.

Results: Peak ankle dorsiflexion positively correlated with ankle plantar flexion moment (r = 0.432; p = 0.001), ankle external rotation moment (r = 0.251; p = 0.036), hip extension angle (r = 0.281; p = 0.018), hip flexion moment (r = 0.341; p = 0.004), pelvic ipsilateral rotation angle (r = 0.284; p = 0.017), and medial, anterior, and vertical ground reaction force (r = 0.324; p = 0.006, r = 0.543; p = 0.001, r = 0.322; p = 0.007), negatively correlated with knee external rotation angle (r = -0.394; p = 0.001) and hip adduction angle (r = -0.256; p = 0.032). The cutoff baseline value for all 70 participants was 9.03°.

Conclusions: There is a correlation between the peak ankle dorsiflexion angle and the lower extremity biomechanics during walking. If the peak ankle dorsiflexion angle is less than 9.03°, the lower limb movement pattern will change significantly.

Keywords: biomechanics; limited ankle dorsiflexion; pelvic movement; walking.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Scatter plot for the association between peak ankle dorsiflexion and the biomechanical variables during walking.
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
(A) Scatter plot for the association between peak ankle dorsiflexion and the common factor. (B) The cutoff value of peak ankle dorsiflexion was 9.03°, which was defined by using the maximally selected Wilcoxon statistic.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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