Department of Kinesiology, Iowa State University, Ames, IA, USA.
Department of Statistic, Iowa State University, Ames, IA, USA.
Gait Posture. 2022 May;94:166-172. doi: 10.1016/j.gaitpost.2022.03.012. Epub 2022 Mar 21.
Limited attention has been paid to age- or body size-related changes in the ground reaction forces (GRF) during walking despite their strong associations with lower limb injuries and pathology.
Do the features of GRF during walking associate with age or body size?
Fifty-four participants were subdivided into four groups according to their age and body size: overweight old (n = 12), non-overweight old (n = 13), overweight young (n = 13), and non-overweight young (n = 16). Participants were asked to walk at their self-selected speeds on level ground with force plates embedded in the center of walkway. Functional principal component analysis (FPCA) was performed to extract major modes of variation and functional principal component scores (FPCs) in three-dimensional GRFs. Analysis of variance models were employed to investigate the effect of age, body size, or their interactions on the FPCs of each component of the GRF, with the adjustment to gait speed.
Significant age and body size effects were observed in FPC1 across all three-dimensional GRF. Both overweight and older groups showed greater braking force after heel-strike and greater propulsive forces during pre-swing when compared to the non-overweight and younger groups, respectively. The overweight old group displayed greater medial forces during mid-stance and the overweight young group showed prominently larger medial forces during pre-swing, while non-overweight old showed a tendency of flatter medial-lateral GRF waveforms during the entire stance phase. FPC2 revealed that only body size had an effect on three-dimensional GRF with the highest FPC2 scores in the overweight old group.
Three-dimensional GRF during walking could be altered by the body size and age, which were more pronounced in the overweight and older group. The more dynamic GRF pattern with greater and/or lower peaks could be contributing factors to the increased joint load and injury rates observed in overweight aged individuals.
尽管下肢损伤和疾病与地面反力（GRF）在行走时的年龄或体型相关变化密切相关，但人们对这些变化的关注有限。
行走时的 GRF 特征是否与年龄或体型有关？
根据年龄和体型，将 54 名参与者分为四组：超重老年人（n=12）、非超重老年人（n=13）、超重年轻人（n=13）和非超重年轻人（n=16）。要求参与者在水平地面上以自选择的速度行走，力板嵌入步道中心。采用功能主成分分析（FPCA）提取三维 GRF 中的主要变化模式和功能主成分得分（FPC）。采用方差分析模型研究年龄、体型或其相互作用对 GRF 各成分 FPC 的影响，同时对步速进行调整。
在所有三维 GRF 中，FPC1 均观察到显著的年龄和体型效应。与非超重和年轻组相比，超重和老年组在足跟触地时的制动力更大，在预摆时的推进力更大。超重老年组在中足站立时的内侧力更大，超重年轻组在预摆时的内侧力明显更大，而非超重老年组在整个站立阶段的内侧-外侧 GRF 波形更平坦。FPC2 表明，只有体型对三维 GRF 有影响，超重老年组的 FPC2 得分最高。
行走时的三维 GRF 可能会因体型和年龄而改变，超重和老年组的改变更为明显。更动态的 GRF 模式具有更大和/或更低的峰值，可能是导致超重老年个体关节负荷增加和受伤率增加的因素之一。
