Impact of overweight on spatiotemporal gait parameters and lower-limb biomechanics in functional ankle instability.

BACKGROUND

Ankle sprains are common in physically active populations and may progress to functional ankle instability, which can impair gait. Excess body mass increases lower-limb loading and may further compromise walking function in this population.

OBJECTIVE

To examine whether overweight status influences spatiotemporal gait parameters, gait deviation/variability indices, and sagittal-plane hip, knee, and ankle biomechanics during level walking in individuals with functional ankle instability.

METHODS

In this cross-sectional comparative analysis, forty-four adults with functional ankle instability were enrolled (22 normal-weight and 22 overweight). Three-dimensional motion analysis was used during self-selected speed walking to quantify spatiotemporal parameters, gait deviation/variability indices, and sagittal-plane hip, knee, and ankle kinematics and kinetics. Multiple comparisons across gait outcomes were controlled using a Holm-Bonferroni correction (family-wise error rate 0.05).

RESULTS

After Holm-Bonferroni correction, spatiotemporal parameters did not differ significantly between groups. For gait deviation/variability indices, several measures showed nominal (unadjusted) between-group differences, but none remained significant after correction. For discrete sagittal-plane biomechanics, the overweight group demonstrated lower peak hip flexion after correction (P_adj < 0.05), whereas hip flexion at toe-off showed a nominal difference but did not remain significant after correction (P_adj ≥ 0.05).

CONCLUSION

After multiplicity control, overweight status was mainly associated with reduced hip flexion-related mechanics rather than consistent spatiotemporal or deviation/variability alterations in adults with functional ankle instability.