Comparison of Frontal and Transverse Plane Kinematics Related to Knee Injury in Novice Versus Experienced Female Runners

Abstract

Novice runners experience a higher incidence of knee injury than experienced runners, which may be related to aberrant frontal and transverse plane kinematics. However, differences in kinematics between novice and experienced runners have not been fully explored. For this study, 10 novice and 10 experienced female runners ran on a treadmill at 2.68 m/s. Ankle, knee, and hip joint angles during the stance phase were measured using a 3-dimensional motion capture system and modeled using cubic splines. Spline models were compared between groups using a generalized linear model (α = .05). Ninety-five percent confidence intervals of the difference between joint angles throughout stance were constructed to identify specific periods of stance where groups differed in joint position. Angle–angle diagrams of ankle and hip position in the frontal and transverse planes were constructed to depict joint coordination. Novice runners displayed less hip adduction, but greater knee abduction and knee internal rotation compared to experienced runners. Differences in knee joint position may be explained by coordination of hip and ankle motion. Greater knee abduction and knee internal rotation displayed by novice runners compared with experienced runners may help to explain their higher risk for injury.