Original articles  SPORT INJURIES AND REHABILITATION 

The Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness 2005 September;45(3):355-9

Copyright © 2009 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

lingua: Inglese

Differences in lower extremity alignment between males and females. Potential predisposing factors for knee injury

Tillman M. D. ¹, Bauer J. A. ², Cauraugh J. H. ¹, Trimble M. H. ³

¹ Center for Exercise Science University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA 2 Exercise Science and Sport Studies State University of New York at Cortland, Cortland, NY, USA 3 Department of Physical Therapy University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA

Aim. The ­goal of ­this ­study was to com­pare meas­ures of ­lower ­extremity align­ment ­between ­males and ­females, ­which may ­account for ­gender dif­fer­ences in ante­rior cru­ciate lig­a­ment ­injury ­rates. ­Static ­lower ­extremity align­ment has ­been impli­cated as pre­dis­posing indi­vid­uals to ante­rior cru­ciate lig­a­ment ­injury and may ­vary ­between ­males and ­females. An ­initial ­step in iden­ti­fying rel­e­vant ­risk fac­tors for ­injury is to deter­mine ­those fac­tors ­that ­vary ­between gen­ders.
­Methods. ­Thirty ­male and 27 ­female col­lege ­aged indi­vid­uals ­with no his­tory of ­lower ­extremity ­injury par­tic­i­pated. ­Three ­indices of ­lower ­extremity align­ment ­were meas­ured on ­each sub­ject: quad­ri­ceps ­angle, ­thigh ­foot ­angle, and sub­talar ­joint ­range of ­motion ­ratio.
­Results. Q-­angles in ­females ­exceeded ­values for ­males by 4.4° (p<0.001). ­Thigh ­foot ­angle for ­females was 3.6° ­greater ­than for ­males (p=0.020). Sub­talar ­joint move­ment ­ratio did not ­vary ­between gen­ders (p=0.573).
Con­clu­sion. Pre­vious ­research sug­gests ­that ­abnormal align­ment may pre­dis­pose indi­vid­uals to ante­rior cru­ciate lig­a­ment ­injury. The ­present find­ings may ­help to ­explain the dif­fer­ence in ante­rior cru­ciate lig­a­ment ­injury ­rates ­between ­males and ­females. Any tan­gible ­links ­between ­lower ­extremity align­ment and ante­rior cru­ciate lig­a­ment ­injury ­rates ­must be con­firmed ­with pros­pec­tive ­studies.