CGA FAQ: Gender differences in Gait
Hello, this is Sang-Hyun Cho in S-Korea. It is really long time since I
wrote here for the last time. And I would like to send my special greetings
to Dr. Kirtley.
I am currently writing a paper about "gender difference in 3D gait
analysis", in other words, Should we use the separate set of normal data for
male & female, and why?.
I have found that the related paper is rare (Gender difference in joint
biomechanics durig walking: normative study in young adults. Kerrigan DC,
Todd MK, Della CU. Am J Phys Med Rehabil 1998. 77(1): 2-7) , and I would
like to get opinions and informations about the topic.
All I have heard unformaly was that "maybe the skeletal and habitual
characteristics of the two sex will have some influence." And what I want
is to prove it using Vicon data(51 males and 47 female).
Any comment about the above will be greatly appreciated.
Sincerely,
-------
Cho, Sang-hyun MD. Ph.D. (Doctor of Rehabilitation Medicine)
Assistant professor of Dept. of Rehabilitation Therapy,
Yonsei University Wonju campus, College of Health Science
Wonju-si, Kangwon-do, ZIP 220-710, Rep. of KOREA
* H.P 011-366-8043 * E-mail = davinci@soback.kornet.net
* Home Page = http://move.to/davinci or http://soback.kornet.net/~davinci
* MedMark PM&R = http://medmark.org/pmr
Dear Sang-hyun and other Analyzers,
This is an interesting question, which needs answering. I had my first
year students look at one very basic aspect of the problem a couple of
years ago. They recorded their cadence and stride length at a range of
velocities. We were surprised to find that the females increased
velocity primarily by increasing cadence, whereas the males used a
combination of both stride length and cadence. This is not, however, a
new finding - I discovered that it had been documented in Japanese
subjects:
Hirokawa, S. (1989). Normal gait characteristics under temporal and
distance constraints. Journal of Biomedical Engineering 11: 449-456.
What was even more interesting is that these gender differences did not
seem to exist in a similar sample of US PT students (Dr. Jan Bruckner).
So, perhaps we need to discuss cultural as well as gender-based
influences on gait!
Chris
--
Dr. Chris Kirtley MD PhD
Dept. of Rehabilitation Sciences
The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
from BIOMCH-L 22/2/96
Hello, I am a graduate student at the University of British Columbia in
Vancouver. I am presently completing my thesis on a topic you may find
interesting. I conducted a kinematic study trying to look at gender
differences in walking with respect to movement of the pelvis.
I video taped male and female subjects walking on a treadmill at two
different speeds. The women also walked a second time wearing high
heeled shoes. The shoes were introduced as a social factor and to try
and force the women to walk differently.
What I have found thus far is that there are basically no differences
between men and women while walking. I used ANOVA's to test my
hypothesis. Two variables that did show significant differences between
gender were the right and left iliac crests. I filmed the marker
movement of these markers from the rear. The tatol area of moven=ment of
the markers placed here was less for men that women at both speeds.
Neither the PSIS's or gluteal markers (placed on soft tissue) indicated
that men walk differently from women.
The ankle, knee and hip ankles during walking basically showed no gender
differences either. The one variable which was significant was the
maximum hip angle during the stance phase. The men seemed to extend
their hips more than the women.
I haven't finished analysing my data from the front camera.
Here are some references you might find useful. I would certainly
appreciate any references or information you gain from other people on
the list.
Horton, J & Hall, T. (1989). Quadriceps Femoris Muscle Angle: Normal
Values and Relationships with Gender and Selected Skeletal Measures.
Physical Therapy. 69(11):897-901.
Safrit, M., Baumgartner, T., Jackson, A. & stamm, c. (1980). Issues in
Setting Motor Performance Standards. Quest. 32(2):152-162.
Thomas, J. & French, K. (19850. Gender Differences Across Age in Motor
Performance: A MEta-Analysis. Psychological Bulletin. 98(2):260-282.
Vertinsky, P. The Eternally Wounded Woman. Manchester, Manchester
University Press., 1990.
Looking forward to your response.
Regards, Michelle Johansen
==================================================================
Interesting point. I would think there are other factors that
would figure into this question. That is, non-biomechanical
factors such as culture, the individuals self-esteem, etc.
It has often been show that the way in which a person holds
themselves and produces movement is dependent on such factors
as enviroment, self-image, and the level of comfort the individual
perceives. It would seem these factors would have a magnified
effect related to gender-specific gait.
Good Luck!
Brian T. Fay
Local Area Network Administration & Maintenance
Technical Aide Motion Analysis Laboratory
Department of Kinesiology
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
357C Louise Freer Hall
906 S Goodwin Ave
Urbana, IL 61801
Phone: (217) 333-0058
E-mail: b-fay@uiuc.edu
=================================================================
I read your message today about males and females and their differences
in walking. In my undergraduate biomechanics courses, we analyzed gait
and compared males and females within our lab groups. I cannot seem to
find my report, but remember that our hypothesis was that men and women
should have different walking patterns. This is mainly due to the
difference in structure of the pelvis. Women have a wider pelvis, and
therefore should have a slightly different walk. However, this is just
my opinion, but I hope it helps add to the crowd. I am interested to see
what others have to say.
Anxious to hear,
Heather Hallenbeck
Bioengineer
905 Glenwood Ave.
Syracuse, NY 13207
(315)475-1585
email: hehallen@mailbox.syr.edu
================================================================
These two articles deal with male versus female gait:
Cutting JE, Proffitt DR, Kozlowski LT. (1978). A biomechanical invariant
for gait perception. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception
and Performance, 4, 3, 357-372.
Kozlowski LT, Cutting JE. (1977). Recognizing the sex of a walker from a
dynamic point-light display. Perception and Psychophysics, 21, 6, 575-580.
Regards, Brian
-------------------------------------
Name: Brian L. Davis, PhD
Department of Biomedical Engineering (Wb-3)
Cleveland Clinic Foundation
E-mail: davis@bme.ri.ccf.org
http://www.ccf.org/ri/bme
Date: 02/13/96
Time: 09:44:13
-------------------------------------
=====================================================================
There is evidence that gender can be identified from gait. A
discussion of this is found in an article on social perception by
Leslie Arthur and Reuben Baron (1983), Toward an Ecological Theory
of Social Perception, Psychological Review, vol 90 (3), 215-238. See
page 221-222.
The sources they refer to are:
Kozlowski & Cutting (1977) Perception & Psychophysics, 21, 575-580.
Cutting (1978) Perception, 7, 393-405.
Cutting, Proffitt, & Kozlowski (1978) A biomechanical invariant for
gait perception. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human
Perception and Performance, 4, 357-372.
All of these suggest gender differentiates gait sufficiently for
perceivers to accurate guess gender when they only have access to
illuminated dots placed to show gait.
Hope this helps.
--
Dr. Mark G. Kruger
Department of Psychology
Gustavus Adolphus College
St. Peter, MN 56082
507-933-7415
mgk@gac.edu
======================================================================
In regards to your question, you may want to look up Gait and Posture
journal for an article in 1994 relating to 3-D kinematics of female walking.
Alan Morris
Research Engineer - Gait Laboratory
Bloorview / Hugh MacMillan Health Centre
350 Rumsey Road
Toronto, Ont.
CANADA
M4G-1R8
(416) 425-6220 x508
===================================================================
Dear Sang-Hyun Cho,
In a very simple very reproducible test we found out that there is a
significant statistical difference between steplength of men and women. Men
take larger steps than women. We tested 120 elderly (50-100jrs) by having
them walk ten steps and measure the distance afterwards.
Although these results do not answer your questions, it is a hint that your
suggestion about a clear significant difference is correct.
Succes in finding an answer to your questions,
Your's sincerely
Liek Voorbij.
Ir. A.I.M. Voorbij (MSc)
Delft University of Technology
Fac. of Industrial Design Engineering
Dept. System and Product Ergonomics
Jaffalaan 9
2628 BX Delft
The Netherlands
=============================================================
Try the following reference for starters:
Basic kinematics of walking. Step length and step frequency. A review.
V.M.Zatsiorky, S.L. Werner, M.A. Kaimin
The Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness 34(2):109-134, 1994
A summary of published findings on differences in gait between men
and women is given on page 127 of the above-referenced articles, and
some literature references are given to support each statement.
See also:
Sex differences in the pattern of lower limb movement during treadmill
walking. Masahiro Yamasaki, Takashi Sasaki, and Masafumi Torii
European Journal of Applied Physiology 62:99-103, 1991
It seems to me that most of the differences between male and female
subjects which are reported in this article are attributable to
different body sizes between men and women, but you should read it
for yourself.
I hope this helps.
Amy Courtney
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
| Amy C. Courtney, Ph.D. |
| Dept. of Biomedical Engineering |
| The Cleveland Clinic Foundation |
| 9500 Euclid Avenue |
| Cleveland, Ohio 44195 USA |
| |
| courtney@bme.ri.ccf.org |
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
=====================================================================
You should contact the Group of Prof. Antonio Pedotti, at :
Centro di Bioingegneria,
Fondazione Pro Juventute Don Gnocchi,
Politechnico di Milano,
Milano,
Italy.
Tel: +39-2-4009 2260
Fax: +39-2-2686 1144
This group has a very large data base of patients (in the region of
thousands), and they use normalised data for Men, Women, and Children in
their diagnosis strategies, so they must have identified a difference
between the sexes .
Maybe Dr. M. Ferrarin, or Prof. Pedotti can point you in the right
direction, they have over 20 years experience in gait analysis.
Good luck, sorry I couldn't be of any more help,
Stephen
Stephen J. Dorgan
Dept. of ElectronicEngineering, e-mail : dorgan@shannon.ucd.ie
University College Dublin, Voice : +353-1-7061857
Belfield,Dublin 4. Fax : +353-1-2830921
Ireland.
My wife said it was her or sailing .............. I'll miss her.
Dr. Sang-Hyun Cho
Gender differences in 3D gait analysis data from 98 normal adults
Kerrigan DC, Todd MK, Della Croce U. Gender differences in joint biomechanics during walking: a normative study in young adults. Am J Phys Med Rehabil 1998;77:2-7
Gender differences in Heelstrike transient
Ferber R, McClay Davis I, Williams DS 3rd: "Gender differences in lower extremity mechanics during running", Clinical Biomechanics. 18(4):350-7, 2003
Gender differences in subjects walking on tiptoes.
Era, P., Schroll, M., Ytting, H., Gause-Nilsson, I., Heikkinen, E., and Steen, B. (1996) Postural balance and its sensory-motor
correlates in 75-year old men and women: a cross-national comparative study. Journals of Gerontology. Series A, Biological Sciences
and Medical Sciences 51(2): M53-63.
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