Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 23, 2025
Asymmetric Walkway: A Novel Behavioral Assay for Studying Asymmetric Locomotion
Published on: January 15, 2016
Examining movement asymmetries during three single leg tasks using interlimb and single subject approaches
Nickolai J P Martonick1, Craig P McGowan2, Russell T Baker3
1Department of Movement Sciences, University of Idaho, Moscow, ID, 83844, USA; WWAMI Medical Education Program, University of Idaho, Moscow, ID, 83844, USA.
Purpose:
s: To examine whether healthy individuals displayed asymmetric trunk and lower extremity kinematics in the frontal and sagittal planes using both interlimb and single subject models.
Methods:
Trunk, pelvis, and lower extremity kinematic waveforms were analyzed bilaterally during the single leg squat (SLS), forward step down (FSD), and lateral step down (LSD). Participants identified task specific preferred and non-preferred legs based on perceived stability for interlimb analyses. Movement patterns were also analyzed with a single subject approach that included Fisher's exact tests to assess whether asymmetries were related to the task.
Results:
Participants were found to have increased pelvic drop on the non-preferred leg during the LSD from 41 to 77% of the movement (p = 0.01). No other bilateral differences were found for interlimb analyses. Single subject analyses indicated that no task had a greater probability of finding or not finding asymmetries. Associations were found between the FSD and SLS for frontal plane hip (p < 0.01) and knee motion (p < 0.01).
Conclusions:
Interlimb analyses can be influenced by intraparticipant movement variability between preferred and non-preferred legs. Movement asymmetries during single leg weightbearing are likely task dependent and a battery of tests is necessary for assessing bilateral differences.
