The Immediate Effect of Backward Walking on External Knee Adduction Moment in Healthy Individuals

Backward walking (BW) has been recommended as a rehabilitation intervention to prevent, manage, or improve diseases. However, previous studies showed that BW significantly increased the first vertical ground reaction force (GRF) during gait, which might lead to higher loading at the knee. Published reports have not examined the effects of BW on medial compartment knee loading. The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of BW on external knee adduction moment (EKAM). Twenty-seven healthy adults participated in the present study. A sixteen-camera three-dimensional VICON gait analysis system, with two force platforms, was used to collect the EKAM, KAAI, and other biomechanical data during BW and forward walking (FW). The first (P < 0.001) and second (P < 0.001) EKAM peaks and KAAI (P=0.02) were significantly decreased during BW when compared with FW. The BW significantly decreased the lever arm length at the first EKAM peak (P=0.02) when compared with FW. In conclusion, BW was found to be a useful strategy for reducing the medial compartment knee loading even though the first peak ground reaction force was significantly increased.