The Effect of the Quadriceps Angle on the Gait Pattern in Young Adults Aged 18-25 Years

Aim: The Quadriceps angle (Q angle) is used for the prediction, diagnosis, and follow-up of pathologies of knee joint. It gives information about the direction and size of forces applied to the patella. It is described as the angle formed by lines drawn from anterior superior iliac spine to the midpoint of the patella, and from the midpoint of the patella to tibial tuberosity. It gives information about the alignment of anatomical structures of the knee joint. We aimed to investigate the effects of Q angle upon gait and static balance. Materials and Methods: A sample of 106 female and 105 male healthy subjects at age 18-25 years participated in our study. After notting their height and weight, bilateral Q angles were measured with goniometer in standing and supine positions. The force platform Zebris© FDM System Type FDM 1.5 and the WinFDM computer program were used for the gait and stance analysis. SPSS 20 program was used for statistical analysis of the obtained data. Statistical significance limit was determined as p<0.05. Results: We assessed that there was no significant relationship between Q angle and gait analysis parameters. We observed that some of ground reaction force parameters and the butterfly diagram parameters obtained through the gait analysis as well as some of the stance analysis parameters were weak or moderately related to the Q angle. Parameters related to the Q angle did not show a pattern that would be classified by the Q angle measurement method or by the side or by the gender. Conclusion: We think that it is necessary to conduct more extensive research in order to clarify the relationship between Q angle and walking pattern. We suggest that our research will contribute to the literature as a pioneering study in terms of the relationship between the Q angle and gait analysis as well as the stance analysis.