Biomechanics Commons^™

Physical Activity And Age-Related Mechanical Risk Factors For Knee Osteoarthritis, Jocelyn F. Hafer

Doctoral Dissertations

Knee osteoarthritis is an age-related disease which will affect nearly 50% of individuals in their lifetime. Because there are currently no treatments to substantially slow the progression of this disease, it is important to identify mechanisms to reduce the risk of osteoarthritis initiation. Osteoarthritis is a disease which is at least partially mediated by mechanical factors which may result from age-related changes in gait. The extent to which habitual physical activity can modify the impact of age on gait, knee mechanics, and thus cartilage loading is unknown. The aim of this dissertation was to examine the effects of age and …