Evolution of joint power across the lifespan during walking

Abstract Objectives To determine the evolution of lower-limb joint power values during walking across the lifespan. Design Series of cross-sectional studies. Setting This was a pooled analysis of the individual participant joint power data from six datasets, resulting in a sample size of 629 partici...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Bernard X. W. Liew, Rachel Senden, David Rugamer, Kenneth Meijer, Qichang Mei, Kim Duffy, Kevin Netto, Matthew Taylor
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: BMC 2025-06-01
Series:Journal of NeuroEngineering and Rehabilitation
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1186/s12984-025-01647-3
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1849335723802492928
author Bernard X. W. Liew
Rachel Senden
David Rugamer
Kenneth Meijer
Qichang Mei
Kim Duffy
Kevin Netto
Matthew Taylor
author_facet Bernard X. W. Liew
Rachel Senden
David Rugamer
Kenneth Meijer
Qichang Mei
Kim Duffy
Kevin Netto
Matthew Taylor
author_sort Bernard X. W. Liew
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Objectives To determine the evolution of lower-limb joint power values during walking across the lifespan. Design Series of cross-sectional studies. Setting This was a pooled analysis of the individual participant joint power data from six datasets, resulting in a sample size of 629 participants, between the ages of three to 91 years old. Main outcome measures Three function-on-scalar regression models were fitted on the outcome measures of joint hip, knee, and ankle power. The covariates of this analysis included sex, age, walking speed, stride length, height, the interaction between age and speed, and a random intercept for different studies. Results Ankle push-off (A2) power peaked with a value of 2.46 (95%CI 2.41 to 2.50) W/kg in the 3rd decade of life. Hip early-stance power (H1) peaked in the 1st decade, which followed a sharp decline with age till the 3rd decade. Hip pull-off power (H3) increased sharply to 0.86 (95%CI 0.84 to 0.88) W/kg in the 5th decade and stabilised thereafter with older age. Conclusion Ankle push-off power appears to reach maturity in the 3rd decade of life. A strict temporal correspondence between a decline in ankle push-off power (A2) with age and a compensatory increase in hip pull-off power (H3) was not observed, challenging the distal-to-proximal alteration in propulsion strategy commonly attributed to the ageing process.
format Article
id doaj-art-b9f087b8d30b453090a292ea8d156334
institution Kabale University
issn 1743-0003
language English
publishDate 2025-06-01
publisher BMC
record_format Article
series Journal of NeuroEngineering and Rehabilitation
spelling doaj-art-b9f087b8d30b453090a292ea8d1563342025-08-20T03:45:11ZengBMCJournal of NeuroEngineering and Rehabilitation1743-00032025-06-012211910.1186/s12984-025-01647-3Evolution of joint power across the lifespan during walkingBernard X. W. Liew0Rachel Senden1David Rugamer2Kenneth Meijer3Qichang Mei4Kim Duffy5Kevin Netto6Matthew Taylor7School of Sport, Rehabilitation and Exercise Sciences, University of EssexDepartment of Physical Therapy, Maastricht University Medical CenterDepartment of Statistics, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität MünchenDepartment of Nutrition and Movement Sciences, NUTRIM Research Institute of Nutrition and Translational Research in Metabolism, Maastricht University Medical Centre+Faculty of Sports Science, Ningbo UniversitySchool of Sport, Rehabilitation and Exercise Sciences, University of EssexCurtin School of Allied Health, Curtin UniversitySchool of Sport, Rehabilitation and Exercise Sciences, University of EssexAbstract Objectives To determine the evolution of lower-limb joint power values during walking across the lifespan. Design Series of cross-sectional studies. Setting This was a pooled analysis of the individual participant joint power data from six datasets, resulting in a sample size of 629 participants, between the ages of three to 91 years old. Main outcome measures Three function-on-scalar regression models were fitted on the outcome measures of joint hip, knee, and ankle power. The covariates of this analysis included sex, age, walking speed, stride length, height, the interaction between age and speed, and a random intercept for different studies. Results Ankle push-off (A2) power peaked with a value of 2.46 (95%CI 2.41 to 2.50) W/kg in the 3rd decade of life. Hip early-stance power (H1) peaked in the 1st decade, which followed a sharp decline with age till the 3rd decade. Hip pull-off power (H3) increased sharply to 0.86 (95%CI 0.84 to 0.88) W/kg in the 5th decade and stabilised thereafter with older age. Conclusion Ankle push-off power appears to reach maturity in the 3rd decade of life. A strict temporal correspondence between a decline in ankle push-off power (A2) with age and a compensatory increase in hip pull-off power (H3) was not observed, challenging the distal-to-proximal alteration in propulsion strategy commonly attributed to the ageing process.https://doi.org/10.1186/s12984-025-01647-3BiomarkersMusclesLifespan measurementMotor activityBiomechanicsAgeing
spellingShingle Bernard X. W. Liew
Rachel Senden
David Rugamer
Kenneth Meijer
Qichang Mei
Kim Duffy
Kevin Netto
Matthew Taylor
Evolution of joint power across the lifespan during walking
Journal of NeuroEngineering and Rehabilitation
Biomarkers
Muscles
Lifespan measurement
Motor activity
Biomechanics
Ageing
title Evolution of joint power across the lifespan during walking
title_full Evolution of joint power across the lifespan during walking
title_fullStr Evolution of joint power across the lifespan during walking
title_full_unstemmed Evolution of joint power across the lifespan during walking
title_short Evolution of joint power across the lifespan during walking
title_sort evolution of joint power across the lifespan during walking
topic Biomarkers
Muscles
Lifespan measurement
Motor activity
Biomechanics
Ageing
url https://doi.org/10.1186/s12984-025-01647-3
work_keys_str_mv AT bernardxwliew evolutionofjointpoweracrossthelifespanduringwalking
AT rachelsenden evolutionofjointpoweracrossthelifespanduringwalking
AT davidrugamer evolutionofjointpoweracrossthelifespanduringwalking
AT kennethmeijer evolutionofjointpoweracrossthelifespanduringwalking
AT qichangmei evolutionofjointpoweracrossthelifespanduringwalking
AT kimduffy evolutionofjointpoweracrossthelifespanduringwalking
AT kevinnetto evolutionofjointpoweracrossthelifespanduringwalking
AT matthewtaylor evolutionofjointpoweracrossthelifespanduringwalking