ArticleMilitary medicine2025
Does a Standardized Load Carriage Increase Spatiotemporal Gait Asymmetries in Police Recruits? A Population-based Study.
Article in Military medicine, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.
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Who cites it
5 citing papers in PubMed.
- Gait asymmetry across frailty-status groups in older adults: clinical and biomechanical evidence from 3D gait analysis.Annals of medicine · 2026Article
- The Effect of Inclination on Spatiotemporal Gait Parameters in Special Forces Operators Under Tactical Load.Journal of clinical medicine · 2026Article
- Changes in Spatiotemporal Parameters During Gait of Special Forces Operators with Additional External Load.Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Spatiotemporal Gait Asymmetries Remain Unaffected by Increased Load Carriage in Professional Intervention Police Officers.Bioengineering (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Carrying Police Load Increases Gait Asymmetry in Ground Reaction Forces and Plantar Pressures Beneath Different Foot Regions in a Large Sample of Police Recruits.Bioengineering (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
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3 authors.
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Abstract
introductionAlthough the effects of carrying loads on gait biomechanics have been well-documented, to date, little evidence has been provided whether such loads may impact spatial and temporal gait asymmetries under the different foot regions. Therefore, the main purpose of the study was to examine the effects of carrying a standardized police equipment on spatiotemporal gait parameters. MATERIALS AND
methodsIn this population-based study, participants were 845 first-year police recruits (age: 21.2 ± 2.3 years; height: 178.1 ± 10.2 cm; weight: 78.4 ± 11.3 kg; body mass index: 24.7 ± 3.2 kg/m2; 609 men and 236 women; 72.1% men and 27.9% women) measured in 2 conditions: (i) "no load" and (ii) "a 3.5 kg load." Spatiotemporal gait parameters were derived from the FDM Zebris pressure platform. Asymmetry was calculated as (xright-xleft)/0.5*(xright + xleft)*100%, where "x" represented a given parameter being calculated and a value closer to 0 denoted greater symmetry.
resultsWhen compared to "no load" condition, a standardized 3.5 kg/7.7 lb load significantly increased asymmetries in spatial gait parameters as follows: gait phases of stance (mean diff. = 1.05), load response (mean diff. = 0.31), single limb support (mean diff. = 0.56), pre-swing (mean diff. = 0.22), and swing (mean diff. = 0.90) phase, while no significant asymmetries in foot rotation, step, and stride length were observed. For temporal gait parameters, we observed significant asymmetries in step time (mean diff. = -0.01), while no differences in cadence and gait speed were shown.
conclusionsThe findings indicate that the additional load of 3.5 kg/7.7 lb is more likely to increase asymmetries in spatial gait cycle components, opposed to temporal parameters. Thus, external police load may have hazardous effects in increasing overall body asymmetry, which may lead to a higher injury risk and a decreased performance for completing specific everyday tasks.
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