Figure 6.

Percentage change in serum cartilage oligomeric matrix protein (COMP) due to the braced and nonbraced conditions in all participants and in a post hoc subset of participants. The percentage change in serum COMP due to a standardized 3000-step walking protocol both with (braced) and without (nonbraced) a knee brace designed to offload articular tissues both for all participants (n = 30) and in a subset of participants who demonstrated increased COMP (>0-μg/mL increase in COMP during nonbraced walking; n = 22). The horizontal line indicates the median. The upper and lower hinges correspond to the first (25th) and third (75th) quartiles, respectively. The interquartile range is the distance between the first and third quartiles. The whiskers indicate the smallest and largest data points within 1.5 × interquartile range of the respective hinge.