The Effects of a Period of Corrective Exercise Training Program on Running Ground Reaction Forces in Children with Genu Varum: A Trial Study

Genu varum is one of the lower limb malalignments that is associated with changes in the lower limb biomechanics during walking and running. The selected corrective program has the least complications for children. Therefore the purpose of the present study was to investigate the effects of a period of corrective exercise training program on the running ground reaction forces in children with genu varum. In this clinical trial, 17 children with genu varum from Hamadan city were volunteered to participate in 2016. Tests were done in the form of pre and post-tests. Corrective exercises were performed on subjects over a 16-week period. Paired sample t-test was used for statistical analysis of data. In the dominant limb, the peak vertical ground reaction force during push-off phase demonstrated a significant increase during the post-test compared to the pre-test (p=0.012). In the non-dominant limb, the findings showed that impulse decreased significantly in the anterior-posterior direction during the post-test compared to the pre-test (p=0.039). Also, at the non-dominant limb in the free moment, the negative peak showed a significant increase after the training period (p= 0.015). Other components such as vertical loading rate, impulse and free moment at the positive and negative peak showed no significant difference between the pre and post-test (p> 0.05). The findings indicated that the corrective exercises used in the present study improved peak ground reaction forces, impulse and free moment values, but did not have any significant effect on the loading rate.