Gait biomechanics differences between individuals with and without chronic ankle instability

Chronic ankle instability (CAI) has been associated with kinematic and kinetic deficits during walking. However, few studies simultaneously investigated these two modalities during walking, which is necessary to better understand the deficits associated with CAI. The objective of this study was to quantify the kinematic and kinetic differences between participants with and without CAI during walking. To answer this objective, 21 participants with and 21 without CAI were recruited. They walked at comfortable speed, during which ankle and knee angles and moments were compared between groups with a one-dimensional statistical parametric mapping analysis. The CAI group demonstrated no significant difference for ankle angles and moments but showed less external knee rotation from 56-100% and increased knee abduction moment from 1-6% and 7-9% of the stance phase. These results could represent proximal knee compensation and will help better understand the underlying deficits associated with CAI.