A simpler method to evaluate the knee adduction moment during gait using plantar pressure measurements

Reports that medial knee osteoarthritis (OA) is associated with the peak knee adduction moment during walking (pKAM) have led to interventions to reduce pKAM. However, these interventions require repeated costly gait tests to monitor pKAM changes. Thus, the objective of this study was to develop a simple, cost-effective method based on a statistical model to predict pKAM using only plantar pressure measurements. Plantar pressure and pKAM were measured while subjects walked with gait modifications to reduce pKAM. Models were trained to predict pKAM from plantar pressure features. The median Pearson correlation coefficient between predicted and reference pKAM was 0.58. For changes of at least 10% following gait intervention, the model accurately predicted pKAM reductions with a mean probability of 0.90 and pKAM increases with a probability of 0.78. This study demonstrated that it is possible to use plantar pressure measurements to monitor pKAM in healthy subjects.