SYNCHRONY OF PELVIC AND HIP-JOINT MOTION DURING WALKING

We report a study into the coordination of the movements of the pelvis and hip joints during walking at two speeds. 108 healthy subjects wer e filmed using an automated video-based system. Movements of the pelvi s and the lower limbs and their contribution to step length were analy sed and the coordination of the movements with respect to one another was investigated using cross-correlational analysis. We found strong e vidence of consistent temporal relationships within some of the moveme nts with no gender or age effect. Increasing walking speed to a fast c omfortable pace tended to produce tighter phase locking of movement pa tterns. We conclude that expression of the biomechanical determinants of walking ought to include temporal interactions and that axial rotat ion of the pelvis is probably of little consequence as an essential co mponent of normal gait. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science B.V.