Healthy
Conditions
Keywords
Real-time feedback, Decline walking, Leg alignment, Kinematic, Kinetic, Treadmill
Brief summary
Control of the dynamic functional leg alignment (dFLA) and biomechanical load are important joint related aspects regarding the development of osteoarthritis (OA). Research on level walking with feedback on load related parameters provided innovative treatment possibilities. Concerning walking on sloped surfaces, fundamental biomechanical knowledge exists. However, deeper insights into the control of the dFLA during decline walking, and the usefulness of real-time feedback are missing. This study is set up as cross-sectional observation of gait under four conditions, which follows a randomized sequence in order to avoid carry over effects. Thirty (30) participants aged between 18 and 35 years will be included. They will complete a three-dimensional gait analysis on a 5-m ramp with 10° inclination. Afterwards they will be observed under four different conditions a) self-paced walking b) self-paced walking with internal focus of attention, c) self-paced walking with real-time feedback, and d) condition c speed-matched walking, on a 10° declined split belt treadmill. The primary outcome parameter will be the frontal knee range of motion (fKROM). Secondary outcomes include the ground reaction force loading rate, spatial-temporal parameters, sagittal frontal and transversal kinematics, and kinetics for the lower extremities. The findings should improve the understanding of effects of real-time feedback on the control of the dFLA and lower limb loading. Results will be published in a peer-review journal.
Interventions
OTHERDecline Walking with real-time Feedback
Participants are walking decline with self-paced speed on an instrumented treadmill with virtual reality projection under three conditions: without instruction, with instruction for an internal focus of attention and with real-time feedback of their frontal knee alignment
Sponsors
Klaus Widhalm
Study design
Allocation
NA
Intervention model
SINGLE_GROUP
Primary purpose
BASIC_SCIENCE
Masking
NONE
Intervention model description
The study is set up as cross-sectional observation of gait under four conditions, which follows a randomized sequence in order to avoid carry over effects. Chronologically, the assessments will start with the tertiary observation, investigating agreements between declined/inclined ramp and treadmill walking. Thereafter, three out of four conditions (self-paced walking, self-paced walking with internal focus of attention, and self-paced walking with real-time feedback) are tested under block randomization of their six possible permutations . With three conditions (n=3), this represents the smallest number of permutations, equaling a Williams design, where each condition precedes each other condition equally often and each treatment occurs equally frequently at each position. The fourth corresponding condition (speed-matched walking) is exempted from the sequence randomization and always follows after self-paced walking with real-time feedback.
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to 35 Years
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
1. age from 18-35 years 2. body mass index from 18.5 to 29.99 kg/m² 3. no chronical joint diseases and/or OA surgery 4. no neuro-motor diseases
Exclusion criteria
1. non-physiological and non-symmetrical gait patterns 2. severe outliers (more than two standard deviations)
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| frontal knee range of motion during stance phase | during intervention | frontal knee range of motion \[degree\] |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| ground reaction force loading ratio | during intervention | ground reaction force loading ratio \[newton per second\] |
Other
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 3D kinematics of the lower limb | during intervention | joint angles \[degree\] |
| 3D kinetics of the lower limb | during intervention | external joint moments \[newtonmetre per kilogram bodyweight\] frontal knee moment impulses \[newtonmeter per kilogram bodyweight per second\] |
Countries
Austria
Outcome results
None listed