Orrock, Paul (2003) The association of osteopathic tests and diagnoses of sacroiliac joint dysfunction with ground reaction forces during gait. Research Master thesis, Victoria University of Technology.

Abstract

The biomechanical role of the sacroiliac joint during gait is to absorb both ground reaction forces and shear forces during movement. Analysing the gait of patients with sacroiliac joint dysfunction is vital if there is to be an increase in the understanding of its role in low back and pelvic pain and related dysfunctions. The diagnoses of somatic dysfunction utilised by the osteopathic profession have not been validated by experimental data, and the aim of the study was to investigate whether ground reaction forces during gait might be associated with these dysfunctions. This study compared the ground reaction forces during walking of 44 symptomatic patients who tested positive for somatic dysfunction of the sacroiliac joints with 25 normal subjects. 12 subjects returned in 1 week in order to test the reliability over time of the measures. The gait analysis showed significant differences in ground reaction forces between the two positive symptomatic groups, subjects with right anterior innominate (innominate group) and forward sacral torsion - left on left (sacral group), and between both these groups and the control (norm) group (p< .05). 15 of the 76 parameters measured proved to be highly variable from week to week. The study has identified specific differences in the ground reaction forces in subjects with two of the most commonly diagnosed somatic dysfunctions of the pelvis from normal subjects, and therefore adds a possible objective measure to the theoretical models of sacroiliac joint dysfunction. As the literature is confused regarding the definition and diagnostic criteria of Sacroiliac Joint Dysfunction, a comprehensive model of categorization is proposed.

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