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Amplitude and frequency analysis of force plate data in sitting children with and without MMC
A Karlsson1, S Norrlin, H C Silander
1Systems and Control Group, Uppsala University, P.O. Box 27, 751 03, Uppsala, Sweden. ack@syscon.uu.se
Insights
Force plate analysis reveals distinct postural sway in children with myelomeningocele (spina bifida). Frequency analysis, not visual observation, identified these differences, offering a new assessment method.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric physical therapy
- Biomechanics
- Neurology
Background:
- Postural sway in children with myelomeningocele (spina bifida) remains understudied.
- Assessing seated postural sway is challenging, especially for children with mobility impairments.
- Force plate analysis offers a potential method to evaluate sway in non-ambulatory children.
Purpose of the Study:
- To determine if force plate measurements can detect differences in seated postural sway.
- To compare postural sway between children with and without myelomeningocele.
Main Methods:
- Force plate measurements were collected from 15 children with myelomeningocele and 20 typically developing children (age 6).
- Standard deviation and median frequency of horizontal ground reaction forces analyzed body sway.
- Influence of visual input and seat inclination was assessed.
Main Results:
- The standard deviation of force showed minor differences between groups.
- Children with myelomeningocele exhibited significantly lower median frequencies in postural sway.
- Neither visual input nor seat inclination significantly affected sway in either group.
Conclusions:
- Frequency analysis of force plate data can reveal subtle differences in postural sway not apparent visually.
- Children with myelomeningocele demonstrate altered postural control system output compared to controls.
- This study introduces a novel method for analyzing seated postural sway in pediatric populations.
Objective:
To investigate if force plate measurements can be used to detect postural sway differences in sitting children with and without myelomeningocele (spina bifida).BACKGROUND. The postural sway has not been investigated in children with myelomeningocele previously. Since many of these children are not able to stand independently, force plate measurements during sitting could be one way to detect differences in their postural sway compared to normal children. However, there is very little published regarding assessment of seated postural sway.METHODS. Force plate measurements on 15 six years old children with myelomeningocele and 20 age-matched normal children were analysed. The standard deviation and the median frequency of the horizontal ground reaction force were used to characterise the body sway.RESULTS. The standard deviation of the force was larger only for some of the children with myelomeningocele as compared to the control group. The median frequency was significantly lower in the myelomeningocele group as compared to the control group. Visual input and seat base inclination did not influence the postural sway significantly.
Conclusions:
The results show that frequency analysis can be used to detect fundamental differences in postural sway that can not be observed visually. RelevanceIn this paper a new method for analysis of seated postural sway is described. The lack of relatively high spectral frequencies for children with myelomeningocele shows that the output from the postural control system differs as compared to the control group.