Physiotherapy Treatment Effects on Ground Reaction Force and Toeout Angles: A Case Study

Mechanical factors are proved to play a pivotal role in both triggering and progressing the course of kneeosteoarthritis (KOA) as well as clinical bio-indexes in the intervention assessment. Grasping the variations associatedwith these factors could be of highly clinical value in decelerating the KOA progression and intervention selection. Thepurpose of this study was to examine the variation of the vertical ground reaction force components and toe-out anglesduring walking of one subject as feasible indexes for a certain physiotherapy session. A female subject diagnosed withknee osteoarthritis of both feet was recruited for this study; a ten-session physiotherapy treatment was prescribed forher calf muscles. In order to collect data of walking gait, the subject was asked to walk on a straight and level path thata plantar pressure distribution measurement system, Zebris FDM, was properly inserted. The results showedinsignificant reduction in the toe-out angles of both feet after the course physiotherapy sessions (p> 0.05). However, thetrend of vertical ground reaction force (VGRF) for both feet were approaching normal curve. Moreover, the relativeminimum value of VGRF (FZ2) changed significantly (p<0.05). Therefore, this study indicated that the VGRF is apotential index that could be used in clinical settings while studying the effects of physiotherapy on KOA subjects.

Physiotherapy Treatment Effects on Ground Reaction Force and Toeout Angles: A Case Study Keywords:

toe-out angles , ground reaction force , knee osteoarthritis , physiotherapy , gait