Three‐Dimensional Biomechanical Gait Characteristics at Baseline Are Associated With Progression to Total Knee Arthroplasty

Objective To determine if baseline 3‐dimensional (3‐D) biomechanical gait patterns differed between those patients with moderate knee osteoarthritis (OA) who progressed to total knee arthroplasty (TKA) and those that did not, and whether these differences had predictive value. Methods Fifty‐four patients with knee OA had ground reaction forces and segment motions collected during gait. 3‐D hip, knee, and ankle angles and moments were calculated over the gait cycle. Amplitude and temporal waveform characteristics were determined using principal component analysis. At followup 5–8 years later, 26 patients reported undergoing TKA. Unpaired t‐tests were performed on baseline demographic and waveform characteristics between TKA and no‐TKA groups. Receiver operating curve analysis, stepwise discriminate analysis, and logistic regression analysis determined the combination of features that best classified TKA and no‐TKA groups and their predictive ability. Results Baseline demographic, symptomatic, and radiographic variables were similar, but 7 gait variables differed (P