Cadence: Steps to manage joint load in knee OA? An interview with Dr. Harvi Hart. Episode #447

Dr. Harvi Hart is a postdoctoral researcher at Western University in London, Ontario, funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. Dr. Hart’s research focuses on identifying risk factors for knee osteoarthritis, both non-traumatic and post-traumatic osteoarthritis. Through better understanding these risk factors, Dr. Hart aims to develop new treatment approaches for managing knee OA. In this episode, Dr. Erin Macri asks Dr. Hart about her most recent studies looking at cadence and its possible role in joint loading and knee osteoarthritis. Twitter: @HarviHart @Erin_Macri Resources and references Hart HF, Birmingham TB, Primeau CA, et al. Associations between cadence and knee loading in patients with knee osteoarthritis. Arthritis Care Res (Hoboken) 2020. Published online first doi:10.1002/acr.24400 Hart HF, Gross KD, Crossley KM, et al. Is step rate associated with worsening of patellofemoral and tibiofemoral joint osteoarthritis in women and men? The Multicenter Osteoarthritis Study. Arthritis Care Res (Hoboken) 2019. Published online first doi: 10.1002/acr.23864 Lenhart RL, Thelen DG, Wille CM, Chumanov ES, Heiderscheit BC. Increasing running step rate reduces patellofemoral joint forces. Med Sci Sports Exerc 2014; 46: 557-564. Willy RW, Meardon SA, Schmidt A, Blaylock NR, Hadding SA, Willson JD. Changes in tibiofemoral contact forces during running in response to in-field gait retraining. J Sports Sci 2016; 34: 1602-1611.

Bramah C, Preece SJ, Gill N, Herrington L. A 10% increase in step rate improves running kinematics and clinical outcomes in runners with patellofemoral pain at 4 weeks and 3 months. Am J Sports Med 2019 7:3406-3413.