A Biomechanical Assessment of Gait Patterns and Risk of Associated Overuse Conditions among Mature Female Runners

Due to a proliferation of health and social advantages, the popularity of running among the more mature members of the female population is expanding steadily. However, with both age and gender acting as possible risk factors, the incidence of running related injuries and associated conditions is high among this group. With the predominance of debilitating conditions such as knee joint osteoarthritis acting at the knee joint, knowledge of lower limb biomechanics during running will provide insight into possible risk factors and potential management strategies. Three biomechanical and one magnetic resonance imaging study focussed on the specific running gait of mature females and the effect of footwear on lower limb joint kinematics and loading. The biomechanical studies used synchronised ground reaction force and lower extremity kinematic data to provide three dimensional running data and knee moments for each female. The long term study objectives were to 1) determine whether the running gait of mature females could be a predisposing factor to injuries and conditions at the knee joint, and 2) determine if changes in footwear could modify biomechanical variables associated with the development of injuries and overuse conditions among this group. In Study One, a direct comparison of mature and young female running gait was used to identify any biomechanical movement characteristics specific to the mature group that could predispose to injuries and debilitating conditions. It was found that rearfoot eversion, ankle dorsiflexion, knee internal rotation, and knee external adductor moment that are associated with increased loading of the lateral knee joint and possible medial knee joint osteoarthritis development, were significantly higher among the mature females compared to the younger group (p