Predicting normative walking biomechanics across the lifespan using seven simple features

Liew, BXW, Senden, R, Rugamer, D, Sommer, E, Meijer, K, Mei, Q, Foster, R ORCID: 0000-0003-2410-9839 and Taylor, M (2025) Predicting normative walking biomechanics across the lifespan using seven simple features. Journal of Neuroengineering and Rehabilitation, 22 (1). p. 220. ISSN 1743-0003

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Abstract

The assessment of gait impairments requires a normative reference for comparison. For a fair assessment, comparisons must be made against a reference standing after controlling for sex, anthropometry, and walking characteristics. This study aimed to develop statistical models that predict the lower-limb kinematics and kinetics of walking across the lifespan of healthy participants, using seven simple covariates. Sixteen statistical models predicted 16 joint kinematics and kinetics during walking using the covariates of sex, age, height, mass, side (laterality), walking speed, and cadence, which were developed based on 301 participants between three to 91 years old. The root mean squared error (RMSE) ranged from 4.71° to 7.97° for joint angles, within 0.07 N/kg for ground reaction forces, 0.09 to 0.15 Nm/kg for joint moments, and 0.33 to 0.39 W/kg for joint powers. We provide both online and local apps which can be easily used by clinicians and scientists to generate normative walking data with uncertainty values, which can be used for movement impairment analysis (https://github.com/EmanuelSommer/ShinyFOSR).

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Humans; Gait; Walking; Models, Statistical; Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Middle Aged; Child; Child, Preschool; Female; Male; Young Adult; Biomechanical Phenomena; Functional regression; Kinematics; Kinetics; Lifespan; Walking speed; Humans; Male; Biomechanical Phenomena; Walking; Female; Aged; Middle Aged; Adolescent; Adult; Aged, 80 and over; Young Adult; Child; Child, Preschool; Models, Statistical; Gait; 40 Engineering; 32 Biomedical and Clinical Sciences; 3209 Neurosciences; 4003 Biomedical Engineering; Bioengineering; Aging; Generic health relevance; Humans; Male; Biomechanical Phenomena; Walking; Female; Aged; Middle Aged; Adolescent; Adult; Aged, 80 and over; Young Adult; Child; Child, Preschool; Models, Statistical; Gait; 0903 Biomedical Engineering; 1109 Neurosciences; Rehabilitation; 3209 Neurosciences; 4003 Biomedical engineering
Subjects:	R Medicine > RA Public aspects of medicine > RA0421 Public health. Hygiene. Preventive Medicine R Medicine > RC Internal medicine > RC1200 Sports Medicine
Divisions:	Sport and Exercise Sciences
Publisher:	BMC Springer Nature
Date of acceptance:	29 September 2025
Date of first compliant Open Access:	6 November 2025
Date Deposited:	06 Nov 2025 13:27
Last Modified:	06 Nov 2025 13:45
DOI or ID number:	10.1186/s12984-025-01768-9
URI:	https://researchonline.ljmu.ac.uk/id/eprint/27507

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