Analysis of Tibialis Anterior and Gastrocnemius Muscle Activity According to Toe Angle during Gait Choi Jung-Hyun* Department of physical therapy, Namseoul University, 31020, Korea *Corresponding Author E-mail: rightmind@nsu.ac.kr
Online published on 16 May, 2018. Abstract Background/Objectives The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of changing the foot progression angle (FPA) on muscular activity of the lower extremity in 21 healthy male and female subjects in their 20s. Methods/Statistical analysis After electromyographic (EMG) electrodes were positioned over the tibialis anterior (TA) and gastrocnemius (GCM) muscles, subjects underwent gait evaluation under three PFA magnitudes (−10°, 10°, 30°) to measure the root mean square (RMS). Multivariate Analysis of Variance was used for statistical analysis along with Tukey's post-hoc test. An alpha of 0.5 is considered to be statistically significant. Findings Comparison of changes in muscle activity of the TA and GCM during walking under different FPA magnitudes revealed no significant difference during-10° toe-in and 30° toe-out gaits. However, during 10° normal gait, the total activity of the two muscles was significantly lower on both sides in comparison with those found during-10° toe-in and 30° toe-out gaits. Improvements/Applications It will be necessary to conduct further study with subjects who actually walk with either toe-in gait pattern or toe-out gait pattern to ensure the impact of their gait patterns. Top Keywords Gait analysis, Surface electromyography, Foot progression angle, Knee moment, adult. Top |