SR
Modular Control of Walking in Unimpaired Younger and Older Adults and Individuals with Knee Osteoarthritis
Published on by Sarah Roelker
Older adults and individuals with knee osteoarthritis (KOA) often exhibit reduced locomotor function and altered muscle activity. Identifying age- and KOA-related changes to the modular control of gait may provide insight into the neurological mechanisms underlying reduced walking performance in these populations. The purpose of this pilot study was to determine if the modular control of walking differs between younger and older adults without KOA and adults with end-stage KOA. Kinematic, kinetic, and electromyography data were collected from ten younger (23.5 ± 3.1 years) and ten older (63.5 ± 3.4 years) adults without KOA and ten adults with KOA (64.0 ± 4.0 years) walking at their self-selected speed. Separate nonnegative matrix factorizations of 500 bootstrapped samples determined the number of modules required to reconstruct each participant’s electromyography. One-way Analysis of Variance tests assessed the effect of group on walking speed and the number of modules. Kendall rank correlations () assessed the association between the number of modules and self-selected walking speed. The number of modules required in the younger adults (3.2 ± 0.4) was greater than in the individuals with KOA (2.3 ± 0.7; p = 0.002), though neither cohorts’ required number of modules differed significantly from the unimpaired older adults (2.7 ± 0.5; p ≥ 0.113). A significant association between module number and walking speed was observed ( = 0.350, p = 0.021) and individuals with KOA walked significantly slower (0.095 ± 0.21 m/s) than younger adults (1.24 ± 0.15 m/s; p = 0.005). Individuals with KOA also exhibited altered module activation patterns and composition (which muscles are associated with each module) compared to unimpaired adults. These findings suggest aging alone may not significantly alter modular control; however, the combined effects of knee osteoarthritis and aging may together impair the modular control of gait.
Cite items from this project
DataCite
3 Biotech
3D Printing in Medicine
3D Research
3D-Printed Materials and Systems
4OR
AAPG Bulletin
AAPS Open
AAPS PharmSciTech
Abhandlungen aus dem Mathematischen Seminar der Universität Hamburg
ABI Technik (German)
Academic Medicine
Academic Pediatrics
Academic Psychiatry
Academic Questions
Academy of Management Discoveries
Academy of Management Journal
Academy of Management Learning and Education
Academy of Management Perspectives
Academy of Management Proceedings
Academy of Management Review
Funding
This research was supported by the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program (https://www.nsfgrfp.org/) under Grant Nos. DGE-1343012 (SAR) and DGE-0822215 (EJC), a fellowship from The Ohio State University (RRK; https://gradsch.osu.edu/fellowships), and by Grant Number R01AR056700 from the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (https://www.niams.nih.gov/). The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases nor the National Institutes of Health.
