• Physical Therapy Rehabilitation Science
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.368-373
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• 2024

Objective: This study investigates the influence of femoral and knee torsion angles on toe in-out orientation in adults. Design: Cross-sectional study design. Methods: We measured the passive internal and external rotation range of motion (ROM) of the hip and knee joints in 21 participants using a goniometer. Toe in-out orientation was assessed with the GaitRite gait analysis system during slow and fast walking trials over a 6-meter walkway. Pearson correlation analysis was used to examine the relationship between joint ROM and gait angle at both walking speeds. Intra- and inter-rater reliability were assessed, and simple linear regression was conducted to explore these relationships. Results: Intra-rater reliability demonstrated high reliability (0.84<ICC<0.94), while inter-rater reliability (0.44<ICC<0.83) exhibited moderate to high reliability. Significant correlations were found between the hip joint's range of motion and the gait angle at slow walking speed. Similar results were observed at fast walking speed for the hip joint. Multiple regression analysis revealed that the neutral angle of the hip joint (β=0.660, p<0.001) and the neutral angle of the knee joint (β=0.284, p=0.034) significantly contributed to the toe-out angle. Conclusions: Our findings indicate a significant correlation between the range of motion of the hip joint and toe in-out orientation. A decrease in the hip joint internal rotation angle was associated with a decrease in toe in-out, while an increase in the mid-angle was associated with an increase in toe in-out.

• The Journal of Korean Physical Therapy
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.14-22
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• 2018

Purpose: This study examined the effects of the lower limb alignment on the pelvis, hip, and knee kinematics in people with genu varum during stair walking. Methods: Forty subjects were enrolled in this study. People who had intercondylar distance ${\geq}4cm$ were classified in the genu varum group, and people who had intercondylar distance <4cm and intermalleolar distance <4cm were placed in the control group. 3D motion analysis was used to collect the pelvis, hip, and knee kinematic data while subjects were walking stairs with three steps. Results: During stair ascent, the genu varum group had decreased pelvic lateral tilt and hip adduction at the early stance phase and decreased pelvic lateral tilt at the swing phase compared to the control group. At the same time, they had decreased minimal hip adduction ROM at the early stance and decreased maximum pelvic lateral tilt ROM and minimum hip rotation ROM at the swing phase. During stair descent, the genu varum group had decreased pelvic lateral tilt at the early stance and decreased pelvic lateral tilt and pelvic rotation at the swing phase. In addition, they had decreased pelvic frontal ROM during single limb support and increased knee sagittal ROM during the whole gait cycle. Conclusion: This study suggests that a genu varum deformity could affect the pelvis, hip and knee kinematics. In addition, the biomechanical risk factors that could result in the articular impairments by the excessive loads from lower limb malalignment were identified.