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Updated: Aug 17, 2026
Lower-Limb Biomechanical Characteristics Associated with Unplanned Gait Termination Under Different Walking Speeds
Published on: August 25, 2020
Regression analysis of gait parameters with speed in normal children walking at self-selected speeds
B W Stansfield1, S J Hillman, M E Hazlewood
1Anderson Gait Analysis Laboratory, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK. benedict.stansfield@strath.ac.uk
Insights
Dimensionless analysis minimizes size effects on children's gait parameters. This study quantifies gait development using normalized speed, offering insights into normal subject locomotion but cautioning against individual prediction.
Area of Science:
- Biomechanical Engineering
- Pediatric Gait Analysis
- Human Locomotion
Background:
- Childhood growth involves significant changes in body size and proportions.
- Gait parameters are known to vary with age and size in developing children.
- Understanding these variations is crucial for assessing normal and abnormal locomotion.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the influence of dimensionless analysis on gait parameters in children.
- To examine the effects of varying walking speed on gait characteristics.
- To establish quantitative relationships between normalized speed and gait parameters for children.
Main Methods:
- Prospective 5-year study involving 16 children.
- Application of dimensionless analysis to normalize for body size differences.
- Linear regression analysis of temporal-distance parameters, ground reaction forces, joint angles, moments, and powers.
- Data collected across a range of walking speeds.
Main Results:
- Dimensionless analysis effectively minimized the influence of children's size variations on gait parameters.
- Normalized speed demonstrated linear relationships with key gait parameters (peak and trough values).
- Quantitative descriptions of gait development relative to normalized speed were established.
Conclusions:
- Normalized speed provides a reliable basis for describing gait development in children.
- Linear relationships derived can estimate gait parameters from speed measurements in normal subjects.
- Caution is advised for individual gait prediction due to data variability and extrapolation limitations.
Abstract:
Dimensionless analysis ensures that differences in sizes (e.g. height and weight) of children have a minimal influence on gait parameters. The results of changes in speed on gait parameters were examined using dimensionless analysis on data from a prospective 5-year study of 16 children. Linear regression analysis of peak and trough values of temporal distance parameters, ground reaction forces, joint angles, moments and powers provide a quantitative description of gait development with normalised speed. These linear relationships can be used to estimate gait parameters from speed measurements for normal subjects. However, caution is advised in using the data to attempt to predict an individual's gait parameters due to the wide spread of data about the regression lines and we do not recommend that the data be used to extrapolate the regression data to wider speed ranges.
