Article

There is growing interest in the role of the knee adduction moment in
the pathogenesis of knee pain and osteoarthritis. It is unclear whether the knee
adduction moment is similar between the dominant and nondominant legs during
locomotion. This study examined whether asymmetry exists in the peak knee
adductor moments during gait in healthy adults. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study.
SETTING: Musculoskeletal Research Centre, La Trobe University, Melbourne,
Victoria, Australia. PARTICIPANTS: Three-dimensional Vicon gait analyses were
performed for 17 healthy men and women. INTERVENTIONS: Not applicable. MAIN
OUTCOME MEASURES: The external dominant and nondominant peak knee adduction
moments during early and late stance were analyzed to determine whether any
significant differences occurred between limbs. RESULTS: Peak knee adductor
moments for dominant and nondominant limbs were significantly correlated during
early (R=0.61, P=0.009) and late (R=0.72, P=0.001) stance. After adjustment for
age and sex, there was an associated 0.58 (P=0.030) and 0.98 (P=0.009) unit
increase in the peak knee adduction moment in the nondominant leg, for every 1
unit increase in the dominant leg during the early and late stance phases of
gait, respectively. Further evidence for symmetry was provided by the symmetry
index, which was 0.04% and 0.62% for early and late stance, respectively.
CONCLUSIONS: In healthy subjects, the magnitude of the dominant limb peak
external knee adduction moments during stance, and in particular late stance,
appears representative of the magnitude of the moment in the nondominant limb.
These findings imply symmetry between these moments and may have important
implications when collecting data for limb analyses among healthy subjects.
Whether gait symmetry protects against the onset of unilateral (or increases the
risk for bilateral) pathological joint changes will need to be confirmed
longitudinally.

Langue : ANGLAIS