title: From normal to fast walking: Impact of cadence and stride length on lower extremity joint moments.
abstract: This study aimed to clarify the influence of various speeding strategies (i.e. adjustments of cadence and stride length) on external joint moments. This study investigated the gait of 52 healthy subjects who performed self-selected normal and fast speed walking trials in a motion analysis laboratory. Subjects were classified into three separate groups based on how they increased their speed from normal to fast walking: (i) subjects who increased their cadence, (ii) subjects who increased their stride length and (iii) subjects who simultaneously increased both stride length and cadence. Joint moments were calculated using inverse dynamics and then compared between normal and fast speed trials within and between three groups using spatial parameter mapping. Individuals who increased cadence, but not stride length, to walk faster did not experience a significant increase in the lower limb joint moments. Conversely, subjects who increased their stride length or both stride length and cadence, experienced a significant increase in all joint moments. Additionally, our findings revealed that increasing the stride length had a higher impact on joint moments in the sagittal plane than those in the frontal plane. However, both sagittal and frontal plane moments were still more responsive to the gait speed change than transverse plane moments. This study suggests that the role of speed in altering the joint moment patterns depends on the individual's speed-regulating strategy, i.e. an increase in cadence or stride length. Since the confounding effect of walking speed is a major consideration in human gait research, future studies may investigate whether stride length is the confounding variable of interest.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, IL, USA. Electronic address: Marzieh_M_Ardestani@rush.edu.
authors.forename: Marzieh M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Ardestani
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, IL, USA; Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, IL, USA.
authors.forename: Christopher
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ferrigno
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical Engineering, University College London, Torrington Place, London, WC1E 7JE, UK.
authors.forename: Mehran
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Moazen
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, IL, USA.
authors.forename: Markus A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Wimmer
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000843:Ankle Joint / Q000502:physiology; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D005684:Gait / Q000502:physiology*; D006621:Hip Joint / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D007596:Joints / Q000502:physiology*; D007719:Knee Joint / Q000502:physiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012016:Reference Values; D000072797:Walking Speed / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: Cadence; External joint moments; Gait; Speed; Stride length