Abnormal Joint Loading During Gait in Persons With Hip Osteoarthritis Is Associated With Symptoms and Cartilage Lesions.
Tzu-Chieh Liao, Michael A Samaan, Tijana Popovic and 5 others
PMID 31610757WHAT IT FOUND
People with hip arthritis walked with significantly higher hip loading than controls.
This extra load was linked to worse pain, daily function, and specific cartilage damage seen on MRI, suggesting gait mechanics are a target for symptom management.
Key findings
01Participants with hip OA exhibited significantly higher peak external hip flexion and adduction moments, as well as higher moment impulses in flexion, adduction, and external rotation, compared to controls.
02In the OA group, increased external hip flexion moment impulses were correlated with worse HOOS pain and function in daily living scores.
03Increased hip flexion and external rotation moment impulses were associated with greater severity of cartilage lesions in specific subregions of the femur and acetabulum.
STILL TO COME
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What it does not show
The study is cross-sectional, so it cannot prove that abnormal gait causes OA or that correcting gait will improve outcomes. Participants walked at a fixed speed (1.35 m/s), which is faster than the self-selected speed of many patients with hip OA. This may limit generalizability to how patients actually move in daily life. The OA and control groups differed in age and sex distribution, although statistical adjustments were made. Severe OA cases (KL grade 4) were excluded, so findings do not apply to end-stage arthritis.
Declared interests
No specific conflicts of interest or funding sources are detailed in the provided text.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume that correcting gait mechanics will reverse cartilage damage or cure hip OA. This study shows an association between loading and symptoms/damage at a single point in time, but it does not demonstrate that changing gait alters the disease course.