Date of Award
1-1-2018
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
M.S. in Health Promotion
Department
Health, Exercise Science, and Recreation Management
First Advisor
Martha Bass
Second Advisor
Chip Wade
Third Advisor
Dwight E. Waddell
Relational Format
dissertation/thesis
Abstract
The knee is one of the most commonly loaded anatomical joints in the human body due to maintaining an upright posture. Increased joint loading can lead to various injuries which can either be treated surgically or non-surgically including immobilization by bracing. Numerous studies have looked at functional knee bracing post-operative surgery creating a gap within the literature analyzing non-operative functional knee braces within a healthy population. Commonly prescribed functional knee braces such as the Ossur Rebound® have been prescribed by physicians, but also available over-the-counter for self-prescription to assist with injury prevention, stabilization, and protection. Previous studies have looked at non-operative functional knee bracing on football players and runners; however, its effect on the average middle-age individual who use it for support and preventative measures has yet to be determined. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to evaluate how a self-prescribed, over-the-counter knee brace with no formal instruction impacts gait kinematics and kinetics. Nineteen healthy participants (10 females and 9 males) completed the study. A pre- and post-intervention design was used for the study. A 3D motion capture system was used to collect twenty (10 no-brace, 10 braced) initial gait passes for each participant which was duplicated upon the participants returning to the lab after wearing a knee brace for eight consecutive hours during a work day. A linear mixed model ANOVA with fixed factors of time (4) and condition (2) which employed unstructured covariance to examine possible differences in joint angles, joint moments, and time to peak joint moments analyzed kinematic and kinetic variables of interest. If main effect significance was found, a Bonferroni post-hoc adjustment compared simple main effects. The findings from this study can be used as a series of recommendations for future research studies as well as future clinical recommendations. Knee braces, especially the Ossur Rebound, are devices that can serve a variety of conditions of the knee. While wearing a knee brace during walking, there is an increased internal load present on the ankle, knee, and hip joint. Therefore, self-prescribing is not appropriate for an individuals without a diagnosed pathology.
Recommended Citation
Luginsland, Lauren, "The Influence of Self-Prescribed Knee Bracing on Walking in Healthy Adults" (2018). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 1320.
https://egrove.olemiss.edu/etd/1320