Gender Differences in Spatio-temporal Parameters of Gait Initiation
Document Type : Original Article
Abstract
Introduction: The aim of the present study was to examine gender differences in spatio-temporal parameters of gait initiation. Materials and Methods: In this semi-experimental study 26 randomly selected, young participants (13 men and 13 women) took part. To measure the spatio-temporal parameters, motion analysis system (Vicon 460) with five cameras was used in 100 HZ. The subjects were asked to stand comfortably in quiet standing position and, start to walk whenever they wanted. Then, with the use of Excel software, the speed, time, distance, swing time, stance time, double support time, hip, knee and ankle range of motion and finally the COM (center of mass) displacement parameters during gait initiation were calculated. Finally to describe the data, mean and standard deviations were calculated and the independent T-test was used to compare the parameters (P<0.05). Results: Data analysis showed a significant difference between the speed of gait initiation (p=0.00) and hip (p=0.03) and knee (p=0.00) flexion range of motion among men and women. Discussion and Conclusion: It seems that gender differences can affect the spatio-temporal parameters of gait initiation. However comparing to the similar studies done on the steady state gait (not gait initiation), it can be concluded that gender differences are less obvious in gait initiation compared to steady state gait
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