Research purpose

The assessment of possible gender-related differences in co-contraction activity of quadriceps femoris vs. hamstring muscles in able-bodied adults, during straight walking.

Methods

Statistical gait analysis was performed on surface-EMG signals from vastus lateralis (VL), rectus femoris (RF), and medial hamstrings (MH) in 15 female (F-group) and 15 male (M-group) age-matched healthy adults. Co-contraction timing and occurrence frequency were provided. Numerous strides (around 450) were considered for each subject.

Results

The same three co-contractions were found in F and M groups, irrespective of gender: during early stance (ES), push-off (PO) and swing (SW) phase. No relevant differences in co-contraction timing were detected between groups. An increase of occurrence frequency was observed in F-group for VL/MH co-activation during PO phase ($21.9\pm 13.6$% vs. $11.3\pm 8.6$% of strides, $p=2.5\times {10}^{-3}$). Occurrence-frequency value was higher ($p=6.9\times {10}^{-3}$) in F-group ($25.8\pm 12.1$%) than in M-group ($17.3\pm 14.2$%) also for RF/VL co-activation in PO phase. These differences entailed a 74.1% increase of co-contraction events in females ($p<0.05$) in PO phase.

Significance

The present study provides a reference frame for knee-muscle co-contractions during walking, differentiated for women and men. The concomitant analysis of timing and frequency of co-contraction occurrences denotes a significant increase in females of QF/hamstrings co-contraction recruitment in push-off. This suggests a female attempt to augment the level of knee-joint stabilization in the final phase of single support when control of balance is thornier.

中文翻译：

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健康女性在步行下推阶段共收缩活动增加

研究目的

评估在健壮的成年人中，股四头肌与绳肌的共同收缩活动在直行行走过程中可能存在的性别相关差异。

方法

对15名女性（F组）和15名男性（M组）年龄相匹配的健康成年人的股外侧肌（VL），股直肌（RF）和内侧绳肌（MH）的表面EMG信号进行了统计步态分析。提供了共收缩时机和发生频率。对于每个受试者，考虑了许多进步（大约450）。

结果

在F和M组中，不论性别，都发现了相同的三个共同收缩：在早期站立（ES），俯卧（PO）和挥杆（SW）阶段。组之间未发现共收缩时间的相关差异。在PO相中VL / MH共激活的F组中观察到发生频率增加（$21.9\pm 13.6$％vs. $11.3\pm 8.6$步幅， $p=2.5\times {10}^{-3}$）。发生频率值较高（$p=6.9\times {10}^{-3}$）在F组（$25.8\pm 12.1$％）比M组（$17.3\pm 14.2$％）也用于PO相中的RF / VL共激活。这些差异导致女性共收缩事件增加了74.1％（$p<0.05$）处于PO阶段。

意义

本研究为行走过程中男女膝关节收缩提供了参考框架。共收缩发生的时间和频率的伴随分析表明，俯卧撑中QF //绳肌共收缩募集的女性显着增加。这表明当平衡的控制较棘手时，女性尝试在单次支撑的最后阶段提高膝关节稳定度。