Individuals with severe knee osteoarthritis (OA) exhibit altered proximal walking mechanics compared with individuals with less severe OA and those without knee pain

Abstract

Objective. To examine hip, pelvis, and trunk walking biomechanics in individuals with medial compartment knee osteoarthritis (OA) of varying radiographic disease severities and others without knee pain. Methods. Hip, pelvis, and trunk kinematics and hip kinetics were assessed in 75 individuals with radiographically confirmed OA and 20 asymptomatic individuals. Differences in peak hip adduction and abduction angles, the amount of contralateral pelvic drop, and peak lateral trunk lean measured by 3-dimensional gait analysis were examined using analyses of variance. Peak external hip abduction and adduction moments were compared using analyses of covariance, with gait speed as a covariate. Resu..