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Age-related kinetic changes in normal pediatrics
T Cupp1, D Oeffinger, C Tylkowski
1Shriners Hospitals for Children, Motion Analysis Laboratory, Lexington, Kentucky 40502, USA.
Insights
Children
Area of Science:
- Biomechanics
- Pediatric Gait Analysis
Background:
- Kinetic data are crucial for interpreting gait in children with abnormalities.
- A normative database is needed for clinical decision-making in pediatric gait analysis.
Purpose of the Study:
- To establish normative kinetic gait data for children aged 4-10 years.
- To compare pediatric gait kinetics with adult normative data.
Main Methods:
- Gait analysis was performed on 23 able-bodied children (4-10 years) and five adults.
- Kinetic data, including joint moments and power generation, were collected and analyzed.
Main Results:
- Children exhibited five significant kinetic differences compared to adults: diminished hip-abduction moment, plantar-flexion moment, knee-extensor moment, A2 power generation, and altered knee-power patterns.
- These differences were more pronounced in younger children (4-5 years) and decreased with age, showing a progression towards adult patterns.
Conclusions:
- Pediatric gait kinetics differ significantly from adult patterns.
- Age-related progression in kinetic gait patterns exists in children, moving towards adult norms.
Abstract:
Kinetic data have become an important adjunct to kinematic and electromyography data in the interpretation of gait data and in the clinical decision making for children with pathologic gait patterns. A normative database is essential for comparison with the patterns of walking in children with gait abnormalities. Gait analyses of 23 able-bodied children (ages 4-10 years) were compared with those of five able-bodied adults. The patterns and amplitudes of the normal able-bodied children's kinetics showed five significant differences from those of the adults: (a) diminished hip-abduction moment, (b) diminished plantar-flexion moment, (c) diminished A2 power generation, (d) diminished knee-extensor moment, and (e) pattern of knee-power data. The data indicated a progression toward the adult normals because differences were more significant in the youngest group (4- to 5-year-olds) than in the older groups (6- to 7- and 8- to 10-year-olds).