title: Intersegmental coordination scales with gait speed similarly in men and women.
abstract: We applied principal component analysis (PCA) to thigh, shank, and foot elevation angles to examine the impact of speed on intra-limb coordination during gait. The specific aims were to (1) determine speed-related changes in segment loadings on three principal components (PCs) and (2) examine differences between men and women. The subjects (26 women, 21 men) walked overground at five self-selected paces (very slow, slow, normal, fast, very fast). PCA yielded percent variation (PV) explained by each PC and thigh, shank, and foot loadings on PC1-PC3. These parameters were regressed against the speed normalized to body height (BH/s) to derive individual and aggregate slopes and P values, separately for men and women. PV1 increased with speed, whereas PV2 and PV3 decreased (all P < 0.001). The loadings of thigh and foot segments on PC1 increased with speed (0.14 and 0.04 per BH/s, P < 0.001, respectively), and the loading of shank decreased (-0.10, P < 0.001). Compared to PC1, the changes in segment loadings on PC3 were the opposite (thigh -0.18, shank 0.09, foot -0.04 per BH/s, P < 0.001). The changes in segment loadings on PC2 were inconsistent and generally small. The only significance (P = 0.006), albeit a minor difference between men and women, was in the slope of thigh loading on PC2 (-0.005 ± 0.019 and 0.015 ± 0.026 per BH/s, respectively). We conclude that intersegmental coordination during gait scales with speed, with the greatest impact on the thigh segment, but no differently between men and women.
authors.affiliation: Center for Neuroscience and Neurological Recovery, Methodist Rehabilitation Center, 1350 East Woodrow Wilson Drive, Jackson, MS, 39216, USA. jchow@mmrcrehab.org.
authors.forename: John W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Chow
authors.affiliation: Center for Neuroscience and Neurological Recovery, Methodist Rehabilitation Center, 1350 East Woodrow Wilson Drive, Jackson, MS, 39216, USA.
authors.forename: Dobrivoje S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Stokic
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D005121:Extremities / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D005684:Gait; D006801:Humans; D008124:Locomotion / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D025341:Principal Component Analysis; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology*; D016059:Range of Motion, Articular / Q000502:physiology*; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D013997:Time Factors; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Biomechanics; Gait speed; Locomotion; Motor control; Planar covariation