Physical Treatments (Oct 2024)
Altered Lower Extremity Intersegmental Coordination in Female Athletes With Dynamic Knee Valgus: A Case-control Study
Abstract
Purpose: Among female athletes, dynamic knee valgus (DKV) is one of the most common injuries, especially anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries. This study aims to compare lower limb coordination in athletes with and without DKV during walking. Methods: In this case-control study, 32 recreational female athletes were recruited in two groups, 17 with DKV and 15 without DKV (WDKV). A motion analysis system was used to gather kinematic data at 200 Hz. The participants were educated to walk barefoot on an 8-meter pathway comfortably. The segmental angles in each motion plane were then calculated using MATLAB software, version 9.14. The mean absolute relative phase (MARP) and deviation phase (DP) were extracted for the pelvic-thigh, thigh-shank, and shank-foot segments. A two-sample t-test was used to compare the mean values of the MARP and DP in the gait stance and swing phases. The significance level is 95% (P<0.05). Results: Female athletes with DKV displayed distinct intersegmental coordination patterns between the thigh-shank, pelvis-thigh, and shank-foot in their lower extremities during walking, which were different compared to athletes without DKV (P<0.05). Conclusion: This study showed that female athletes with DKV exhibit distinct intersegmental coordination patterns in the pelvis-thigh, shank-foot, and thigh-shank during walking. These results indicate that for corrective protocols or risk reduction measures for athletes with DKV, significant attention should be paid to the intersegmental coordination patterns of the lower extremity joints. Establishing stability and coordination between the proximal and distal segments of all lower limb joints is crucial to address the intersegmental coordination patterns at the knee to decrease the risk of ACL injuries in DKV-afflicted athletes.
