Date of Award

Fall 12-1-2002

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Department

Physical Education

First Advisor

Alfred Finch

Second Advisor

J. P. Babington

Third Advisor

Mitchell L. Cordova

Abstract

Although gait analysis has been conducted for a long time, there has been little attention paid to ethnic differences in kinematics and kinetics of walking gait. The purposes of this study were: to compare the lower extremity sagittal kinematics and ground reaction forces during walking gait cycle; and to compare the anthropometric dimensions oflower limbs during static standing between Japanese and American Caucasian males. 111 Thirty males from Indiana State University (fifteen from each ethnic group), aged twenty to twenty-nine years, served as subjects for this study. The lower extremity segmental characteristics were measured, using a tape measure, a Vernier caliper, and one medium-speed video camera (60Hz). Three medium-speed video cameras (60Hz) were used to record the vertical displacement of center of mass and lower limb joint displacements during one complete gait cycle, while walking at the mean speed of 1.34 rn/s, and later the video images were analyzed using an Ariel .A.P AS human analysis performance system. Also ground reaction forces generated during the gait cycle were measured using a Kistler force plate. The analysis ofbody parameter measurements found significant main differences for shank length and Q angle between the two ethnic groups. The shank length was attributable to the differences in all lower extremity height between the groups, excluding ankle height. Although Q angle showed that Japanese subjects had greater Q angle than American Caucasians, this appeared not to relate to the frontal knee alignment directly lV because of the tibial alignment considerations. Q angle and PPR (pelvic-patella ration) could not describe the entire lower extremity alignment because of the influence of tibial alignment on those measures, and the present study should have chosen the other measurement methods. In gait kinematics, only the hip angular displacement showed significant differences through the three phases during the stance phase. The Japanese subjects had greater hip flexion in all three gait phases than the American Caucasians during the gait cycle. These results reflected in different stride lengths and ground reaction forces. Japanese subjects demonstrated the greater ground reaction forces at heel strike, while American Caucasian subjects did at toe off. This would indicate that the two ethnic groups have different kinematic strategies for gait. The gait data differences seem to reflect the differences found in the body parameter measurements. From this point of view, no cultural effects existed in the gait kinematic strategies independently, and it was concluded that basically Japanese and American Caucasians do not have any differences in gait kinematics; even if the differences did exist, it would be due to the dimensional differences in the body segments.

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