Effect of pregnancy on female gait characteristics: a pilot study based on portable gait analyzer and induced acceleration analysis

Xin Li; Zhenghui Lu; Xuanzhen Cen; Yizheng Zhou; Rongrong Xuan; Dong Sun; Yaodong Gu

doi:10.3389/fphys.2023.1034132

Effect of pregnancy on female gait characteristics: a pilot study based on portable gait analyzer and induced acceleration analysis

Front Physiol. 2023 May 16:14:1034132. doi: 10.3389/fphys.2023.1034132. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Xin Li¹, Zhenghui Lu¹, Xuanzhen Cen^{1

2}, Yizheng Zhou¹, Rongrong Xuan³, Dong Sun¹, Yaodong Gu^{1

4}

Affiliations

¹ Faculty of Sports Science, Ningbo University, Ningbo, China.
² Faculty of Engineering, University of Szeged, Szeged, Hungary.
³ The Affiliated Hospital of Medical School, Ningbo University, Ningbo, China.
⁴ Research Academy of Medicine Combining Sports, Ningbo No 2 Hospital, Ningbo, China.

Abstract

Introduction: The changes in physical shape and center of mass during pregnancy may increase the risk of falls. However, there were few studies on the effects of maternal muscles on gait characteristics and no studies have attempted to investigate changes in induced acceleration during pregnancy. Further research in this area may help to reveal the causes of gait changes in women during pregnancy and provide ideas for the design of footwear and clothing for pregnant women. The purpose of this study is to compare gait characteristics and induced accelerations between non-pregnant and pregnant women using OpenSim musculoskeletal modeling techniques, and to analyze their impact on pregnancy gait. Methods: Forty healthy participants participated in this study, including 20 healthy non-pregnant and 20 pregnant women (32.25 ± 5.36 weeks). The portable gait analyzer was used to collect participants' conventional gait parameters. The adjusted OpenSim personalized musculoskeletal model analyzed the participants' kinematics, kinetics, and induced acceleration. Independent sample T-test and one-dimensional parameter statistical mapping analysis were used to compare the differences in gait characteristics between pregnant and non-pregnant women. Results: Compared to the control group, pregnancy had a 0.34 m reduction in mean walking speed (p < 0.01), a decrease in mean stride length of 0.19 m (p < 0.01), a decrease in mean stride frequency of 19.06 step/min (p < 0.01), a decrease in mean thigh acceleration of 0.14 m/s² (p < 0.01), a decrease in mean swing work of 0.23 g (p < 0.01), and a decrease in mean leg falling strength of 0.84 g (p < 0.01). Induced acceleration analysis showed that pregnancy muscle-induced acceleration decreased in late pregnancy (p < 0.01), and the contribution of the gastrocnemius muscle to the hip and joint increased (p < 0.01). Discussion: Compared with non-pregnant women, the gait characteristics, movement amplitude, and joint moment of pregnant women changed significantly. This study observed for the first time that the pregnant women relied more on gluteus than quadriceps to extend their knee joints during walking compared with the control group. This change may be due to an adaptive change in body shape and mass during pregnancy.

Keywords: IDEEA; OpenSim; gait analysis; induced acceleration; pregnant women.

Grants and funding

This study was sponsored by Zhejiang Key Research and Development Program (Grant number: 2021C03130), Zhejiang Province Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars (Grant number: LR22A020002), Ningbo Key Research and Development Program (Grant number: 20222Z196), Ningbo Natural Science Foundation (Grant number: 2022J065, 2022J120) and K. C. Wong Magna Fund in Ningbo University.