Gender differences in knee angle on landing from a drop-jump: Kinematic data in young adults

There is a risk of injury to the knee during landing. The kinematics involved in different landing strategies may be related to the occurrence of trauma. Several sources suggest that the angle of knee extension on touchdown and impact with the ground determines the magnitude of the impact force and, indirectly, knee loading. This study compared the initial knee angle, maximum knee flexion angle, and angular velocity at the instant of impact on drop-landings between healthy men and women. In this study, 48 participants (25 male, 23 female) dropped from a height of 40 cm onto their right leg. The CMS-HS measuring system was used to analyze the kinematic data. There was no significant difference in the mean knee flexion angle at landing between the two groups. However, the range of knee flexion on landing (43.64 ± 4.63° in men, 37.40 ± 6.23° in women) and the angular velocity (0.25 ± 0.04°/sec for men, 0.23 ± 0.04°/sec for women) differed significantly (p<0.05). Women land with a straighter knee than men and this might increase the likelihood of a knee injury.