Copyright
©The Author(s) 2023. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
Reference values of gait parameters in healthy Chinese university students: A cross-sectional observational study
Jin-Sheng Yu, Chen Zhuang, Wen-Xuan Guo, Jun-Jie Chen, Xiang-Ke Wu, Wei Xie, Xing Zhou, Hui Su, Yi-Xuan Chen, Li-Kang Wang, Wen-Kai Li, Kun Tian, Ru-Jie Zhuang
Jin-Sheng Yu, Xiang-Ke Wu, Wei Xie, Xing Zhou, Hui Su, Yi-Xuan Chen, Li-Kang Wang, Wen-Kai Li, The First School of Clinical Medicine, Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, Hangzhou 310053, Zhejiang Province, China
Jin-Sheng Yu, Wen-Xuan Guo, Xing Zhou, Hui Su, Yi-Xuan Chen, Li-Kang Wang, Wen-Kai Li, Kun Tian, Ru-Jie Zhuang, Department of Orthopedics, The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, Zhejiang Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Hangzhou 310003, Zhejiang Province, China
Chen Zhuang, Alberta Institute, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou 325035, Zhejiang Province, China
Jun-Jie Chen, Department of Orthopedics, Shaoxing TCM Hospital Affiliated to Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, Shaoxing Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shaoxing 312099, Zhejiang Province, China
Xiang-Ke Wu, Wei Xie, Ru-Jie Zhuang, Department of Orthopedics, Quzhou TCM Hospital at the Junction of Four Provinces Affiliated to Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, Quzhou 324002, Zhejiang Province, China
Author contributions: Zhuang RJ and Tian K are guarantors and designed this study; Zhuang C, Guo WX, and Yu JS were involved in data acquisition, analysis, and interpretation; Zhuang C and Yu JS drafted the initial manuscript; Chen JJ, Wu XK, Xie W, Zhou X, Su Hui, Chen YX, Wang LK, Li WK revised the article critically for important intellectual content.
Supported by Major Project of the Co-construction Science and Technology Program between the Science and Technology Department of the National Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine and the Zhejiang Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine, No. GZY-ZJ-KJ-23040; Zhejiang Medical and Health Science and Technology Project, No. 2022497035; Quzhou City Science and Technology Project, No. 2022K75; Zhejiang Chinese Medical University Scientific Research Fund Project, No. 2021FSYYZZ09, No. 2021FSYYZZ14.
Institutional review board statement: The study was reviewed and approved by the Department of Orthopedics, The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang Chinese Medical University (Zhejiang Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine) Institutional Review Board [Approval No. 2023-K-162-01].
Informed consent statement: All study participants provided informed written consent prior to study enrollment.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors have no conflict of interest in regards to this work.
Data sharing statement: Data can be obtained from the corresponding author upon request.
STROBE statement: The authors have read the STROBE Statement—checklist of items, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the STROBE Statement—checklist of items.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See:
https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/ Corresponding author: Ru-Jie Zhuang, MD, Chief Doctor, Professor, Department of Orthopedics, The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, Zhejiang Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, No. 54 Youdian Street, Hangzhou 310003, Zhejiang Province, China. rujiezhuang@163.com
Received: July 20, 2023
Peer-review started: July 20, 2023
First decision: August 30, 2023
Revised: September 4, 2023
Accepted: September 18, 2023
Article in press: September 18, 2023
Published online: October 16, 2023
BACKGROUND
Gait is influenced by race, age, and diseases type. Reference values for gait are closely related to numerous health outcomes. To gain a comprehensive understanding of gait patterns, particularly in relation to race-related pathologies and disorders, it is crucial to establish reference values for gait in daily life considering sex and age. Therefore, our objective was to present sex and age-based reference values for gait in daily life, providing a valuable foundation for further research and clinical applications.
AIM
To establish reference values for lower extremity joint kinematics and kinetics during gait in asymptomatic adult women and men.
METHODS
Spatiotemporal, kinematics and kinetics parameters were measured in 171 healthy adults (70 males and 101 females) using the computer-aided soft tissue foot model. Full curve statistical parametric mapping was performed using independent and paired-samples t-tests.
RESULTS
Compared with females, males required more time (cycle time, double-limb support time, stance time, swing time, and stride time), and the differences were statistically significant. In addition, the step and stride lengths of males were longer. Compared to males, female cadence was faster, and statures-per-second and stride-per-minute were higher. There were no statistical differences in speed and stride width between the two groups. After adjusting for height, it was observed that women walked significantly faster than men, and they also had a higher cadence. However, in terms of step length, stride length, and stride width, both genders exhibited similarities.
CONCLUSION
We established reference values for gait speed and spatiotemporal gait parameters in Chinese university students. This contributes to a valuable database for gait assessment and evaluation of preventive or rehabilitative programs.
Core Tip: In this observational study, gait parameters of healthy Chinese university students were provided, and gender differences in gait as well as differences compared to other ethnicities were observed. These findings may contribute to localized clinical guidance and reference for the region.
