Effects of age and gender on reference value of kinematic gait parameters among healthy Thai adults aged 20-69 years

Abstract

Walking, which is a common daily activity, plays a vital role in clinic for the evaluation of underlying pathology that may affect health related problems in patients and healthy people. We aimed to study effects of age and gender on temporospatial and kinematic gait parameters among Thai adults in the age range of 20-69 years. Participants were divided into 5 aged groups: 20-29, 30-39, 40-49, 50-59 and 60-69 years. VICON system was utilized as a tool for three-dimensional gait analysis. The temporaspatial parameters and lower extremity joint movements in sagittal plane were recorded. 2-Way ANOVA were used to compare all parameters between aged groups and genders. There were significant differences of the cadence (average of left leg 113.61±7.87 and right leg 113.56±8.12 step/min) and gait speed (average of left and right leg 1.17±0.11 m/s) between aged groups. For the stride length (average of left and right leg 1.23±0.09 m.), there were no significant difference between aged groups. Significant difference of cadence and stride length was also found between male and female participants. For hip knee and ankle joint movements, there was significant difference among aged groups (p<0.05). Statistically significant difference between gender was found in hip and knee joint movements (p<0.05). Whereas, there were no significant differences between male and female in ankle joint movements. In conclusion, the age and gender have an effect on cadence, stride length, gait speed and lower limb movement in sagittal plane. Moreover, the temporospatial and gait kinematics data in this study can be served as reference values for healthy adults and data could be applied for gait analysis in patients.