Elsevier

Gait & Posture

Volume 15, Issue 2, April 2002, Pages 136-145
Gait & Posture

Intra-subject repeatability of the three dimensional angular kinematics within the lumbo–pelvic–hip complex during running

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0966-6362(01)00188-6Get rights and content

Abstract

The intra-subject repeatability of measuring the three dimensional (3D) angular kinematics of the lumbo–pelvic–hip complex during running was evaluated. Spatio-temporal parameters were found to be repeatable. All angular kinematic parameters displayed high within-day repeatability despite numerous potential sources of variability in the data. Most angular kinematic parameters also displayed high between-day and overall repeatability, except for trunk flexion-extension, lumbar spine flexion-extension, pelvic anterior–posterior tilt, hip axial rotation and thigh axial rotation. These angular parameters were highly susceptible to marker reapplication errors that produced static daily offsets in the data. Overall, the results of this study suggest that the 3D angular kinematic patterns of the lumbo–pelvic–hip complex during running can be measured with sufficient repeatability to justify the implementation of the method as an evaluation tool in future investigations. However, caution must be exerted when interpreting the absolute magnitudes of trunk flexion-extension, lumbar spine flexion-extension, pelvic anterior–posterior tilt, hip axial rotation and thigh axial rotation, given the poor level of repeatability found for these measures.

Introduction

In order for three dimensional (3D) analysis of human locomotion to obtain widespread clinical acceptance as a useful evaluation tool, the repeatability of the complex measurements is one of the fundamental requirements that must be sufficiently established [1]. This is especially the case when analysing running gait, as deviations between ‘typical’ and ‘atypical’ patterns are likely to be subtle. There are three general sources of variability that ultimately determine the repeatability of 3D gait analysis data. Firstly, the instrumental errors associated with the precision of the motion analysis system may manifest as random variations. Secondly, the application of a kinematic model with its associated assumptions and skin movement artefacts may produce errors that result in variability in the data. Finally, human performance can be expected to display an inherent degree of variability [2]. The combined effect of these variabilities needs to be investigated so that the repeatability of measuring 3D angular kinematic data during running is known.

Previous research has investigated the repeatability of measuring several kinematic parameters during running. Measures of step length have been found to be reliable [3], [4]. Temporal parameters such as stance time, swing time, flight time and stride rate have also been shown to be reliable [4], [5]. Finally, various angular kinematic parameters for the trunk, knee, ankle and foot have been shown to display minimal variability across repeated running trials [4], [6], [7]. Whilst the repeatability of measuring the 3D kinematics of the lumbar spine, pelvis and hips has been investigated for walking [2], [8], [9], [10], [11], [12], to our knowledge this has not been previously established for running. This is important to determine given the recent emergence of studies measuring these angular parameters during running [13], [14], [15]. Therefore, the aim of this study was to describe a method for measuring the 3D angular kinematics of the lumbo–pelvic–hip complex during running and assess the associated intra-subject repeatability.

Section snippets

Subjects

A cohort of 14 able-bodied subjects (11 male, three female) volunteered for this study. Subjects had an average age of 29.8 (S.D., 4.8) years, height of 176.5 (S.D., 8.5) cm and body mass of 73.2 (S.D., 5.8) kg. All subjects were active runners who usually ran at least 20 km per week and were not injured at the time of testing. Subjects were also experienced treadmill runners. Approval for this project was obtained from The University of Melbourne and Australian Institute of Sport ethics

Results

The average running speed of the subjects was 3.9 (S.D., 0.5) m/s. The spatio-temporal parameters were found to be bilaterally symmetric and similar across subjects. Stride time and stride length were found to be highly repeatable both within-day and between-day with all average CoV values less than 2%. The average CoV values for stance and swing were slightly higher, ranging between 7.4 and 17.2% (Table 1).

The average CMC values indicate that the repeatability of the angular kinematic data

Discussion

Establishing the repeatability of measuring the 3D angular kinematics of the lumbo–pelvic–hip complex during running is critical if one wishes to differentiate potential pathological changes in the data from mere instrumental and/or experimental artefact. This study has demonstrated that most of the 3D angular kinematic parameters within the lumbo–pelvic–hip complex can be measured during running with a high level of repeatability, except for the trunk, lumbar spine and pelvis y axis rotations,

Acknowledgements

We thank Linda Philpot for administrative assistance. Financial support was provided by the Australian Research Council.

References (45)

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