Patients with unilateral ankle arthritis have decreased discrete and time‐series limb symmetry compared to healthy controls

• Published in: Journal of orthopaedic research 2023-09, Vol.41 (9), p.1953-1964
• Main Authors: Stark, Nicole E.‐P., Streamer, Jill, Queen, Robin
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Ankle; ankle arthritis; Ankle Joint; Arthritis; asymmetry; Biomechanical Phenomena; Gait; gait mechanics; Humans; limb symmetry; Walking; walking speed
• ISSN: 0736-0266; 1554-527X; 1554-527X
• DOI: 10.1002/jor.25541

Patients with ankle arthritis (AA) have side‐to‐side limb differences at the ankle and in spatiotemporal measures; however, the degree of symmetry between limbs has not been compared to a healthy population. The purpose of this study was to determine differences in limb symmetry during walking for discrete and time‐series measures when comparing patients with unilateral AA to healthy participants. Thirty‐seven AA and 37 healthy participants were age, gender, and body mass index matched. Three‐dimensional gait mechanics and ground reaction force (GRF) were captured during four to seven walking trails. GRF and hip and ankle mechanics were extracted bilaterally for each trial. The Normalized Symmetry Index and Statistical Parameter Mapping were used to assess discrete and time‐series symmetry, respectively. Discrete symmetry was analyzed using linear mixed‐effect models to determine significant differences between groups (α = 0.05). Compared to healthy participants, patients with AA had decreased weight acceptance (p = 0.017) and propulsive (p