Abstract
Kinematic and kinetic studies were performed to investigate the walking characteristics on a treadmill with various slopes at the same speed of 1.25m/sec. Six different slopes of the treadmill were selected . -4%(-$2.3^{\circ}$), 0%($0^{\circ}$), 5%($2.9^{\circ}$), 10%($5.7^{\circ}$), 15%($8.6^{\circ}$), and 20%($11.3^{\circ}$). With increased slopes of the treadmill, both hip and knee flexion angles significantly increased at initial contact, and the maximum hip flexion during swing phase and the maximum knee flexion during stance phase also significantly increased Ankle dorsiflexion angle at initial contact and the maximum dorsiflexion increased with increased slopes. However, the maximum plantarflexion in early swing was slightly reduced with increased slopes. Hip extension in late stance and the maximum knee flexion in early swing was not changed sigilificantly with increased slopes. As for the vertical ground reaction force, compared to the yond level walking, both the first and the second peak forces increased, but the mid-support force decreased.
