Title: Evaluation of weight-bearing, walking stability, and gait symmetry in patients undergoing restoration following hip joint fractures

Authors: Anam Raza; Imran Mahmood; Tayyaba Sultana

Addresses: Department of Zoology, Government College University, Faisalabad, Pakistan ' Mechanical, Mechatronics and Manufacturing Engineering Department, University of Engineering and Technology Lahore, Faisalabad Campus, Pakistan ' Department of Zoology, Government College University, Faisalabad, Pakistan

Abstract: This study numerically quantifies patients' restoration following a range of hip joint fractures. Ground reaction force (GRF) data collected from 221 subjects was grouped into four conditions: hip coxa fracture (HC), pelvis fracture (HP), femur fracture (HF), and normal hip joint (NH). The GRF data were windowed into three subphases: initial double-limb support, single-limb support, and terminal double-limb support. During each subphase, the thresholds of mass normalised GRF were calculated for both fractured and intact limbs. The results showed a significant decline (p < 0.001) in walking stability and weight-bearing ability for all hip fractures. Furthermore, the fractured patients showed a massive increase in interlimb weight-bearing dependency (up to 20%) in the vertical direction in comparison to normal subjects, and a significant decrease in interlimb symmetries (up to 28%) in the anterior-posterior (AP) and medial-lateral (ML) directions. The methods and findings provide a comprehensive package to evaluate fracture restoration clinically using 3D-GRF.

Keywords: fracture; weight-bearing; stability; gait; rehabilitation.

DOI: 10.1504/IJBET.2025.144945

International Journal of Biomedical Engineering and Technology, 2025 Vol.47 No.3, pp.195 - 213

Received: 27 May 2024
Accepted: 13 Aug 2024
Published online: 13 Mar 2025 *

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