Laboratory of Locomotor Apparatus Bioengineering, Department of Human Movement and Sport Sciences, University of Rome Foro Italico, 00135 Rome, Italy.
Gait Posture. 2010 Apr;31(4):429-32. doi: 10.1016/j.gaitpost.2010.01.012. Epub 2010 Feb 16.
Young healthy adults adopt a "head stabilization in space" strategy during walking by attenuating the acceleration going up from pelvis-to-head level. A gender difference exists in this control strategy, particularly evident in the control of medio-lateral dynamic equilibrium. This study aims at assessing whether this difference is already present at pre-pubertal age. Two groups of children (15 females and 15 males, age range: 8-11 years) were involved in the study. They were asked to walk at self-selected speed and movement data were collected using three inertial sensors firmly attached at pelvis (P), shoulder (S), and head (H) levels. The RMS of the accelerations of P, S, and H were computed along the antero-posterior (AP), medio-lateral (ML), and vertical (V) directions and used to compare the two groups. No differences were found between the two groups in the pelvis and shoulder acceleration RMS values. Conversely, lower head acceleration RMS values were found for the females in both the AP and ML directions. Both groups managed to attenuate the upper body AP and ML accelerations going from pelvis-to-head level, with higher attenuations found for the females. The results of this study suggest that the gender differences in the ability to control the head accelerations during gait, found in a previous study, are due neither to different mass distribution nor to a compensation of the greater pelvic motions, nor are they the result of gender related walking habits (e.g. use of high heels).
年轻健康的成年人在行走时会采用“头部在空间稳定”的策略，通过降低从骨盆到头部水平的加速度来实现。在这种控制策略中存在性别差异，特别是在控制横向动态平衡方面。本研究旨在评估这种差异是否在青春期前就已经存在。研究纳入了两组儿童（15 名女性和 15 名男性，年龄范围：8-11 岁）。要求他们以自定速度行走，并使用三个惯性传感器分别牢固地固定在骨盆（P）、肩部（S）和头部（H）水平，采集运动数据。计算了 P、S 和 H 的加速度 RMS 值，沿前后（AP）、横向（ML）和垂直（V）方向进行比较。结果发现，两组在骨盆和肩部加速度 RMS 值方面没有差异。相反，女性在 AP 和 ML 方向的头部加速度 RMS 值较低。两组都能够从骨盆到头部水平降低上半身的 AP 和 ML 加速度，女性的衰减幅度更高。本研究的结果表明，之前的研究中发现的行走时头部加速度控制能力的性别差异既不是由于质量分布不同，也不是由于骨盆运动的补偿，也不是由于与性别相关的行走习惯（例如高跟鞋的使用）造成的。
