BACKGROUND: Although evidence indicates that load carriage may have an influence on walking patterns, the specific impacts of progressively increased loads on spatial and temporal gait asymmetries remain underexplored. Therefore, the primary aim of this study was to examine whether an increased load carriage had an effect on spatiotemporal gait asymmetries among intervention police officers. METHODS: For the purpose of this study, 96 male intervention police officers were recruited and assessed under four load conditions: (i) "No load", (ii) "a 5 kg load", (iii) "a 25 kg load", and (iv) "a 45 kg load". Spatial and temporal gait parameters were measured using a pedobarographic platform (Zebris FDM). The spatial and temporal gait parameters, along with the ground reaction forces beneath different foot regions, were examined. The gait asymmetry for each parameter was calculated using the formula (xright - xleft)/0.5 × (xright + xleft)*100%, where "x" represents the numerical value of each parameter for the left and right sides of the body. RESULTS: The findings indicated no statistically significant differences in the spatiotemporal parameters, nor ground reaction force gait asymmetries between the left and right foot, during walking under a progressively increased load carriage. Additionally, the parameter values for both the left and right sides of the body remained consistent, with a high intercorrelation observed across all of the loading conditions. The gait speed and ground reaction forces, which served as covariates, did not significantly change the spatiotemporal gait asymmetries. CONCLUSIONS: In summary, this study demonstrates that an increased load carriage did not lead to a progressive rise in spatiotemporal gait asymmetries in professional intervention police officers. However, further examination using an advanced 3-D gait analysis and an assessment of physiological patterns and adaptations is recommended to identify and confirm the key factors influencing gait asymmetry.

Department of General and Applied Kinesiology Faculty of Kinesiology University of Zagreb 10 000 Zagreb Croatia

Department of Kinesiology of Sport Faculty of Kinesiology University of Zagreb 10 000 Zagreb Croatia

Department of Physical Activities and Health Sciences Faculty of Sport Studies Masaryk University 625 00 Brno Czech Republic

Department of Sports Kinesiology Faculty of Kinesiology University of Zagreb 10 000 Zagreb Croatia

Zobrazit více v PubMed

Knapik J., Harman E., Reynolds K. Load carriage using packs: A review of physiological, biomechanical and medical aspects. Appl. Ergon. 1996;27:207–216. doi: 10.1016/0003-6870(96)00013-0. PubMed DOI

Knapik J.J., Reynolds K.L., Harman E. Soldier load carriage: Historical, physiological, biomechanical, and medical aspects. Mil. Med. 2004;169:45–56. doi: 10.7205/MILMED.169.1.45. PubMed DOI

Salvendy G. Handbook of Human Factors and Ergonomics. John Wiley & Sons; Hoboken, NJ, USA: 2012.

Larsen L.B., Tranberg R., Ramstrand N. Effects of thigh holster use on kinematics and kinetics of active duty police officers. Clin. Biomech. 2016;37:77–82. doi: 10.1016/j.clinbiomech.2016.06.009. PubMed DOI

Boffey D., Harat I., Gepner Y., Frosti C.L., Funk S., Hoffman J.R. The Physiology and Biomechanics of Load Carriage Performance. Mil. Med. 2019;184:83–90. doi: 10.1093/milmed/usy218. PubMed DOI

Faghy M.A., Shei R.J., Armstrong N.C.D., White M., Lomax M. Physiological impact of load carriage exercise: Current understanding and future research directions. Physiol. Rep. 2022;10:15502. doi: 10.14814/phy2.15502. PubMed DOI PMC

Walsh G.S., Low D.C. Military load carriage effects on the gait of military personnel: A systematic review. Appl. Ergon. 2021;93:103376. doi: 10.1016/j.apergo.2021.103376. PubMed DOI

Seeley M.K., Umberger B.R., Shapiro R. A test of the functional asymmetry hypothesis in walking. Gait Posture. 2008;28:24–28. doi: 10.1016/j.gaitpost.2007.09.006. PubMed DOI

Lanshammar K., Ribom E.L. Differences in muscle strength in dominant and non-dominant leg in females aged 20–39 years--a population-based study. Phys. Ther. Sport. 2011;12:76–79. doi: 10.1016/j.ptsp.2010.10.004. PubMed DOI

Shi P., Fang Y., Guo M., Yu H. The effects of asymmetrical loading on gait characteristics. Biomed. Tech. 2015;60:31–37. doi: 10.1515/bmt-2014-0005. PubMed DOI

Zhang X.A., Ye M., Wang C.T. Effect of unilateral load carriage on postures and gait symmetry in ground reaction force during walking. Comput. Methods Biomech. Biomed. Engin. 2010;13:339–344. doi: 10.1080/10255840903213445. PubMed DOI

DeVita P., Hong D., Hamill J. Effects of asymmetric load carrying on the biomechanics of walking. J. Biomech. 1991;24:1119–1129. doi: 10.1016/0021-9290(91)90004-7. Erratum in J. Biomech. 1992, 25, 467. PubMed DOI

Park K., Sy J.F., Horn G.P., Kesler R.M., Petrucci M.N., Rosengren K.S., Hsiao-Wecksler E.T. Assessing gait changes in firefighters after firefighting activities and while carrying asymmetric loads. Appl. Ergon. 2018;70:44–50. doi: 10.1016/j.apergo.2018.01.016. PubMed DOI

Majumdar D., Pal M.S., Pramanik A., Majumdar D. Kinetic changes in gait during low magnitude military load carriage. Ergonomics. 2013;56:1917–1927. doi: 10.1080/00140139.2013.835871. PubMed DOI

Ozgül B., Akalan N.E., Kuchimov S., Uygur F., Temelli Y., Polat M.G. Effects of unilateral backpack carriage on biomechanics of gait in adolescents: A kinematic analysis. Acta Orthop. Traumatol. Turc. 2012;46:269–274. doi: 10.3944/AOTT.2012.2678. PubMed DOI

Štefan A., Kasović M., Štefan L. Does a Standardized Load Carriage Increase Spatiotemporal Gait Asymmetries in Police Recruits? A Population-based Study. Mil. Med. 2024;ahead of print:usae358. doi: 10.1093/milmed/usae358. PubMed DOI PMC

Kasović M., Štefan L., Borovec K., Zvonař M., Cacek J. Effects of Carrying Police Equipment on Spatiotemporal and Kinetic Gait Parameters in First Year Police Officers. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health. 2020;17:5750. doi: 10.3390/ijerph17165750. PubMed DOI PMC

Teyhen D.S., Shaffer S.W., Goffar S.L., Kiesel K., Butler R.J., Rhon D.I., Plisky P.J. Identification of Risk Factors Prospectively Associated with Musculoskeletal Injury in a Warrior Athlete Population. Sports Health. 2020;12:564–572. doi: 10.1177/1941738120902991. PubMed DOI PMC

Yavnai N., Bar-Sela S., Pantanowitz M., Funk S., Waddington G., Simchas L., Svorai-Litvak S., Steinberg N. Incidence of injuries and factors related to injuries in combat soldiers. BMJ Mil. Health. 2021;167:418–423. doi: 10.1136/jramc-2019-001312. PubMed DOI

Sharma J., Weston M., Batterham A.M., Spears I.R. Gait retraining and incidence of medial tibial stress syndrome in army recruits. Med. Sci. Sports Exerc. 2014;46:1684–1692. doi: 10.1249/MSS.0000000000000290. PubMed DOI

Kasović M., Rožac D., Štefan A., Štefan L., Milković S. Effects of Different Load Carriage on Spatiotemporal Gait Parameters in Elite Intervention Police Officers. Appl. Sci. 2024;14:278. doi: 10.3390/app14010278. DOI

Robinson R.O., Herzog W., Nigg B.M. Use of force platform variables to quantify the effects of chiropractic manipulation on gait symmetry. J. Manip. Physiol. Ther. 1987;10:172–176. PubMed

Maines J.M., Reiser R.F. Ground reaction force bilateral asymmetries during submaximal sagittal plane lifting from the floor. Int. J. Industr Ergon. 2006;36:109–117. doi: 10.1016/j.ergon.2005.08.004. DOI

Stuempfle K.J., Drury D.G., Wilson A.L. Effect of load position on physiological and perceptual responses during load carriage with an internal frame backpack. Ergonomics. 2004;47:784–789. doi: 10.1080/0014013042000193264. PubMed DOI

Quesada P.M., Mengelkoch L.J., Hale R.C., Simon S.R. Biomechanical and metabolic effects of varying backpack loading on simulated marching. Ergonomics. 2000;43:293–309. doi: 10.1080/001401300184413. PubMed DOI

Heglund N.C., Willems P.A., Penta M., Cavagna G.A. Energy-saving gait mechanics with head-supported loads. Nature. 1995;375:52–54. doi: 10.1038/375052a0. PubMed DOI

Fatima R., Khan M.H., Nisar M.A., Doniec R., Farid M.S., Grzegorzek M. A Systematic Evaluation of Feature Encoding Techniques for Gait Analysis Using Multimodal Sensory Data. Sensors. 2024;24:75. doi: 10.3390/s24010075. PubMed DOI PMC