How knee pain from osteoarthritis changes the way you walk with Dr. Kathryn Bacon and Associate Professor Deepak Kumar
Jul 7, 2024
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Dr. Kathryn Bacon and Prof. Deepak Kumar discuss how knee osteoarthritis affects walking patterns, highlighting changes like slower pace, reduced steps, and increased muscle activity. They share insights from a study tracking 2,500 participants and how alterations in gait can indicate worsening pain and knee function. The podcast explores potential implications for research and treatment, emphasizing the use of sensors to monitor walking patterns in daily life.
Osteoarthritis leads to varied gait changes, including slower speeds and asymmetry in walking patterns.
Monitoring gait alterations with sensors can aid in understanding pain progression and optimizing osteoarthritis treatment.
Deep dives
Gait Changes in Osteoarthritis
In osteoarthritis, individuals may experience slower walking speeds, changes in stride length, reduced joint motion, and asymmetry in walking. Factors contributing to gait changes include chronic knee pain, reduced knee motion, increased muscle activity, and varus thrust. Studies indicate that gait alterations are variable among patients based on pain severity, affected knee regions, and activity levels.
Measuring Gait Changes
Gait changes in osteoarthritis are examined using motion sensors worn by participants during walking routines in labs. Sensor data is processed to measure various gait characteristics, providing insights into associations between gait and outcomes. While motion capture technology offers precise measurements, sensors offer simple and quick data collection suitable for large studies like the multicenter osteoarthritis study.
Impact on Pain and Function
Worsening knee pain is associated with gait asymmetry, longer step lengths, and lower dominant frequencies. Lower cadence correlates with declining function, highlighting the role of gait variables in osteoarthritis outcomes. Interventions such as exercise, biomechanical shoes, and walking modifications aim to reduce knee load and improve muscle support. Patient education and collaborative discussions with healthcare providers are crucial for managing osteoarthritis symptoms effectively.
In this week's episode, we explore how knee osteoarthritis affects the way people walk. Experts Dr. Kathryn Bacon and Associate Professor Deepak Kumar from Boston University explain that osteoarthritis impacts everyone differently, but common changes include walking slower, taking fewer steps per minute, and experiencing more muscle activity and pressure on certain parts of the knee. Join them as they reveal findings from one of their recent major studies, in which 2,500 participants wore sensors to track their walking patterns. Interestingly, the data from the study showed that changes in walking speed, step length, and symmetry can be linked to worsening pain and knee function over time.
Importantly, we also discuss how this research can help doctors understand osteoarthritis better and develop new ways to monitor and treat it, using simple sensors to track walking patterns in everyday life.
Tune in to learn more about how osteoarthritis impacts walking and the implications for future research and treatment.