Gait analysis in patients with anterior knee pain.

The purpose of this study was to examine the kinematic and kinetic parameters of the gait of patients with anterior knee pain. Fifteen symptomatic patients and 15 female control subjects were asked to perform 10 barefoot walks along a 10-m walkway. Ground reaction force data were collected using a force platform. Rearfoot motion data were collected using a video kinematic analysis system. The results showed that the controls exerted a significantly higher lateral force compared to patients. There was also a significant difference between controls and patients in the amount of time taken to maximum lateral force and in the time taken to achieve maximum angle between the axis of the calcaneus and axis of the tendo achilles. These results indicate that extended time to maximum lateral force rather than excessive lateral force is a discriminating factor in the gait of female patients with anterior knee pain who have a low recreational status. This contradicts previous studies using running analysis on athletes with this condition and suggests that in terms of diagnosis and treatment, care must be taken when comparing results from groups of different recreational status.