Sex influences in running kinematics and coordination variability in different age ranges

• Grant number: 17/05567-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Doctorate (Direct)
• Start date: June 05, 2017
• End date: October 30, 2017
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Physiotherapy and Occupational Therapy
• Principal Investigator: Fábio Viadanna Serrão
• Grantee: Mariana Carvalho de Souza
• Supervisor: Joseph Hamill
• Host Institution: Centro de Ciências Biológicas e da Saúde (CCBS). Universidade Federal de São Carlos (UFSCAR). São Carlos , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: University of Massachusetts, Amherst (UMass Amherst), United States
• Associated to the scholarship: 13/20400-3 - The influence of aging and sex on the kinematics and muscle activation of lower limbs of runners, BP.DD

Abstract

Running is a commom form of exercise across the life span, and nearly 42 million Americans are considered runners/joggers today. Unfortunately, a high incidence of musculoskeletal injury is associated with running. Female recreational runners are more likely to suffer from certain injuries as compared to males. Also, the number of running-related injuries increased in middle-aged and older runners. Although, it is not well understand the differences between men and women who run in different age ranges. It is known that analysis of the coordination variability of movement allows a higher-level understanding of the movement. Rather than looking at the movement of the joint itself, segment coordination represents the relationship between the segments that make up a given joint. So, the aim of the study was to evaluate in male and female runners the influence of age on running kinematics and coordination variability. Fifty-seven runners volunteered for this study (30 men and 27 women) separated in 6 groups by age and sex. The lower limb kinematic was recorded at 240 Hz using a passive 7-camera motion capture system. Kinematic variables of interest included segment angles of rearfoot, tibia, femur and pelvis, at initial contact, peak angle at stance phase at the three planes of motion and articular angles of ankle, knee and hip at initial contact, peak angle at stance phase and excursion angle at stance phase at the three planes of motion as well. A modified vector coding technique was used to calculate segment coordination variability. Lower extremity joint angles and segment coordination variability were compared between age and sex groups. To test the study hypotheses, one-way analysis of variance designs will use to test for significant sex effects with each age group. A priori alpha level will be set at 0.05. A Bonferonni adjustment will be applied to correct for multiple comparisons. (AU)