Article

The ability to change directions while walking is an integral component of
adaptive locomotor behavior. Patients with hip osteoarthritis (OA) experience
prolonged hip dysfunction. Gait compensation adopted by the patients with hip OA
may become more pronounced while they turn. The purposes of this study were to
identify the turning strategy while walking in patients with hip OA, and to
examine the relationship between the turning strategy and the patient's
functional level. Fourteen patients with hip OA and 13 age-matched healthy
controls were recruited. The hip, knee, and ankle joint angles and moments, and
the foot progression angle were measured under three walking conditions (straight
walking, 45 degrees step turn, and 45 degrees crossover turn), and the gait
variables for each walking condition were compared between the 2 groups. The
relationship between the increasing rate of knee and ankle joint moments in the
turning to the straight walking and the functional point in the Harris hip score
(HHS) was examined. The OA group showed decreased hip flexion, extension, and
abduction angles, and hip flexion moment during the step turn, and decreased hip
flexion, extension, and adduction angles, and hip abduction moment during the
crossover turn. Furthermore, the ankle plantarflexion moment and the change in
the foot angle during the stance phase were significantly increased during the
crossover turn in the OA group. The increasing rate of the ankle plantarflexion
moment correlated significantly with the functional point in the HHS. Patients
with hip OA rely primarily on the ankle plantarflexors to compensate for the hip
dysfunction while changing the walking direction.
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Langue : ANGLAIS