{"title":"Effect of knee sleeves on joint angle variability during gait in older adults: a principal component analysis.","authors":"Wakako Tsuchida, Takuma Inai, Shoma Kudo, Yoshiyuki Kobayashi, Masahiro Fujimoto","doi":"10.3389/fbioe.2025.1525174","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Introduction: </strong>As the global elderly population increases, maintaining walking ability and minimizing fall risk among older adults is crucial for their health and wellbeing. Knee sleeves are commonly utilized in geriatric sports and rehabilitation to stabilize knee joint movement and enhance gait stability. However, their effects on joint kinematics during walking in healthy older adults, particularly on joint angle variability-a factor associated with fall risk-remain inadequately explored. This study aimed to investigate the influence of knee sleeves on joint angle variability during gait in healthy older adults.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Principal component analysis was performed on 16 healthy older adults residing in the community, utilizing 3D spatiotemporal data of the participants' time-normalized lower limb joint angles throughout the complete gait cycle. The analysis involved a 64 × 1818 input matrix, accounting for 16 participants, two conditions (control and knee sleeves), two walking speeds (normal and fast), three angles, three axes, 101 time points, and two parameters (average and variability). Kinematic waveforms were reconstructed based on the statistical findings to identify notable differences in joint angle variabilities between the conditions.</p><p><strong>Results and discussion: </strong>The outcomes revealed reduced variability in knee and ankle joint angles on the sagittal plane when walking with knee sleeves compared to walking without them. Conversely, an increased variability in hip, knee, and ankle joint angles was observed on the sagittal plane when walking at a fast speed compared to a normal speed. These results suggest that knee sleeves may reduce variability in knee and ankle joint angles during walking in older adults, potentially lowering the risk of falls. This effect appears particularly beneficial during fast-paced walking, where joint angle fluctuations are more pronounced than during normal-speed walking. These findings offer quantitative evidence for the effectiveness of knee sleeves in enhancing walking performance in healthy older adults.</p>","PeriodicalId":12444,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology","volume":"13 ","pages":"1525174"},"PeriodicalIF":4.8000,"publicationDate":"2025-05-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12129960/pdf/","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology","FirstCategoryId":"5","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fbioe.2025.1525174","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"2025/1/1 0:00:00","PubModel":"eCollection","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"BIOTECHNOLOGY & APPLIED MICROBIOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Introduction: As the global elderly population increases, maintaining walking ability and minimizing fall risk among older adults is crucial for their health and wellbeing. Knee sleeves are commonly utilized in geriatric sports and rehabilitation to stabilize knee joint movement and enhance gait stability. However, their effects on joint kinematics during walking in healthy older adults, particularly on joint angle variability-a factor associated with fall risk-remain inadequately explored. This study aimed to investigate the influence of knee sleeves on joint angle variability during gait in healthy older adults.
Methods: Principal component analysis was performed on 16 healthy older adults residing in the community, utilizing 3D spatiotemporal data of the participants' time-normalized lower limb joint angles throughout the complete gait cycle. The analysis involved a 64 × 1818 input matrix, accounting for 16 participants, two conditions (control and knee sleeves), two walking speeds (normal and fast), three angles, three axes, 101 time points, and two parameters (average and variability). Kinematic waveforms were reconstructed based on the statistical findings to identify notable differences in joint angle variabilities between the conditions.
Results and discussion: The outcomes revealed reduced variability in knee and ankle joint angles on the sagittal plane when walking with knee sleeves compared to walking without them. Conversely, an increased variability in hip, knee, and ankle joint angles was observed on the sagittal plane when walking at a fast speed compared to a normal speed. These results suggest that knee sleeves may reduce variability in knee and ankle joint angles during walking in older adults, potentially lowering the risk of falls. This effect appears particularly beneficial during fast-paced walking, where joint angle fluctuations are more pronounced than during normal-speed walking. These findings offer quantitative evidence for the effectiveness of knee sleeves in enhancing walking performance in healthy older adults.
期刊介绍：
The translation of new discoveries in medicine to clinical routine has never been easy. During the second half of the last century, thanks to the progress in chemistry, biochemistry and pharmacology, we have seen the development and the application of a large number of drugs and devices aimed at the treatment of symptoms, blocking unwanted pathways and, in the case of infectious diseases, fighting the micro-organisms responsible. However, we are facing, today, a dramatic change in the therapeutic approach to pathologies and diseases. Indeed, the challenge of the present and the next decade is to fully restore the physiological status of the diseased organism and to completely regenerate tissue and organs when they are so seriously affected that treatments cannot be limited to the repression of symptoms or to the repair of damage. This is being made possible thanks to the major developments made in basic cell and molecular biology, including stem cell science, growth factor delivery, gene isolation and transfection, the advances in bioengineering and nanotechnology, including development of new biomaterials, biofabrication technologies and use of bioreactors, and the big improvements in diagnostic tools and imaging of cells, tissues and organs.
In today`s world, an enhancement of communication between multidisciplinary experts, together with the promotion of joint projects and close collaborations among scientists, engineers, industry people, regulatory agencies and physicians are absolute requirements for the success of any attempt to develop and clinically apply a new biological therapy or an innovative device involving the collective use of biomaterials, cells and/or bioactive molecules. “Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology” aspires to be a forum for all people involved in the process by bridging the gap too often existing between a discovery in the basic sciences and its clinical application.
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