The influence of iliotibial band syndrome history on running biomechanics examined via principal components analysis

Iliotibial band syndrome (ITBS) is a common knee overuse injury among female runners. Atypical discrete trunk and lower extremity biomechanics during running may be associated with the etiology of ITBS. Examining discrete data points limits the interpretation of a waveform to a single value. Characterizing entire kinematic and kinetic waveforms may provide additional insight into biomechanical factors associated with ITBS. Therefore, the purpose of this cross-sectional investigation was to determine whether female runners with previous ITBS exhibited differences in kinematics and kinetics compared to controls using a principal components analysis (PCA) approach. Forty participants comprised two groups: previous ITBS and controls. Principal component scores were retained for the first three principal components and were analyzed using independent t-tests. The retained principal components accounted for 93–99% of the total variance within each waveform. Runners with previous ITBS exhibited low principal component one scores for frontal plane hip angle. Principal component one accounted for the overall magnitude in hip adduction which indicated that runners with previous ITBS assumed less hip adduction throughout stance. No differences in the remaining retained principal component scores for the waveforms were detected among groups. A smaller hip adduction angle throughout the stance phase of running may be a compensatory strategy to limit iliotibial band strain. This running strategy may have persisted after ITBS symptoms subsided.