Differences in Hip and Knee Landing Moments across Female Pubertal Development

Area of Science:

• Biomechanics
• Sports Medicine
• Pediatric Orthopedics

Background:

• Adolescent female athletes have a higher prevalence of knee injuries.
• Pubertal development is a potential contributing factor to these injuries.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate if girls exhibit higher triplanar knee and hip moments during single-limb landing as pubertal development advances.
• To understand the biomechanical factors associated with knee injury risk in adolescent females.

Main Methods:

• 93 females were grouped by pubertal stage: pre-pubertal, early/mid-pubertal, and late/post-pubertal.
• Participants performed a single-limb drop lateral jump, with lower-limb biomechanics analyzed using motion capture and force plates.
• Joint moments were normalized to body mass, height, and body mass by height, with statistical analysis including ANOVA and Pearson correlations.

Main Results:

• Girls in later pubertal stages demonstrated higher triplanar knee moments and hip flexion moments.
• These moments, when normalized to body mass and height, were significantly higher in late/postpubertal girls.
• Conversely, hip internal rotation moments were lower in late/postpubertal girls compared to earlier stages.

Conclusions:

• Increased triplanar knee and hip moments in advanced pubertal stages are linked to growth-related increases in body mass and height.
• Further research is essential to quantify the impact of pubertal growth on anterior cruciate ligament injury risk in adolescent females.