Lower-limb muscle function during gait in varus mal-aligned osteoarthritis patients

Abstract

This study quantified the contributions by muscular, gravitational and inertial forces to the ground reaction force (GRF) and external knee adduction moment (EKAM) for knee osteoarthritis (OA) patients and controls walking at similar speeds. Gait data for 39 varus mal-aligned medial knee OA patients and 15 controls were input into musculoskeletal models to calculate the contributions of individual muscles and gravity to the fore-aft (progression), vertical (support), and mediolateral (balance) GRF, and the EKAM. The temporal patterns of contributions to GRF and EKAM were similar between the groups. Magnitude differences in GRF contributions were small but some reached significance. Peak GRF ..