Reliability of kinematic parameters of the lower limb joints during walking on the ground and treadmill

T Abstract To improve motor function, movement pattern and changes in joint kinematic parameters are investigated in different conditions. Using a treadmill in human gait analysis, makes it possible to record several steps of gait in a limited space and also controlled conditions. The purpose of this study was to investigate the consistency of the kinematic parameters of lower limb joints during walking on the ground and treadmill. Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) for kinematic parameters of lower limb joints of 15 healthy young male participants were calculated during walking on the ground and treadmill. The angles of pelvic, hip, and ankle were often in the range of excellent reliability (ICC>0.9) when walking on the ground, while the results were in the range of average reliability (ICC<0.7) when walking on a treadmill. Therefore, in treatment activities or research studies, considering the decrease in consistency of walking trials on the treadmill is important.