Abstract
We employed a new microcomputer based low cost method for the measurement of spatial/temporal parameters of gait in children and compared gait parameters of 50 hemiplegic children with 134 controls. This method provides an immediate profile of parameters of the gait cycle: step length, stride time, double support time, cadence, walking speed and maximum foot velocity during swing phase. The data were acquired using 2 test walks in order to gain 3 separate stride pairs for analysis. The subjects walked at a self-selected speed and were assessed using whatever orthotic assistance they normally used for the activities of daily living. In order to characterise and quantify deviations from normal controls we have used age and sex standardised scores for each gait parameter. Wilcoxon rank sum tests were used to compare measurements recorded in the hemiplegic group with control values.
All functional parameter's of gait except stride time, were significantly different in the hemiplegic group compared to normal controls (p<0.001). There was no significant relationship between the type (congenital or acquired) of the hemiplegia, the aetiology, or the use of walking aids/orthoses. Instantaneous velocity profiles of the hemiplegic swing phase show characteristic patterns which are subjected to computerised pattern recognition and other analyses. These can then be correlated with clinical patterns (heel strike, plantar strike, toe-heel, fixed equinus). This temporal-spatial method (kinematic) is the only gait system which provides instant velocity analysis and provides a quantitative appraisal of disability in hemiplegic children.
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Macgregor, D., Minns, R. GAIT ANALYSIS IN CHILDHOOD HEMIPLEGIA. Pediatr Res 32, 620 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-199211000-00093
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-199211000-00093