Abstract
Background
Lower-limb stress fracture is one of the most common types of running injuries. There
have been several studies focusing on the association between stress fractures and
biomechanical factors. In the current study, the ground reaction force and loading
rate are examined. There is disagreement in the literature about whether the history
of stress fractures is associated with ground reaction forces (either higher or lower
than control), or with loading rates.
Methods
A systematic review of the literature was conducted on the relationship between the
history of tibial and/or metatarsal stress fracture and the magnitude of the ground
reaction force and loading rate. Fixed-effect meta-analysis techniques were applied
to determine whether or not the ground reaction force and/or loading rate are different
between the stress fracture and control groups.
Findings
Thirteen articles were identified through a systematic search of the literature. About
54% of these articles reported significantly different vertical ground reaction force
and/or loading rate between the stress fracture and control groups. Other studies
(~46%) did not observe any significant difference between the two groups.
Meta-analysis results showed no significant differences between the ground reaction
force of the lower-limb stress fracture and control groups (P>0.05). However, significant differences were observed for the average and instantaneous
vertical loading rates (P<0.05).
Interpretation
The currently available data does not support the hypothesis that there is a significant
difference between the ground reaction force of subjects experiencing lower-limb stress
fracture and control groups. Instead, the vertical loading rate was found to be significantly
different between the two groups.
Keywords
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Article Info
Publication History
Published online: September 16, 2010
Accepted:
August 20,
2010
Received:
May 10,
2010
Identification
Copyright
© 2010 Elsevier Ltd. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
