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Clinical Assessment of Spatiotemporal Gait Parameters in Patients and Older Adults
08:56

Clinical Assessment of Spatiotemporal Gait Parameters in Patients and Older Adults

Published on: November 7, 2014

Differences in gait complexity and variability between children with and without developmental coordination disorder

Karl S Rosengren1, Frederik J A Deconinck, Louis A Diberardino

  • 1Department of Psychology, Northwestern University, 2029 Sheridan Road, Evanston, IL 60208, USA. k-rosengren@northwestern.edu

Gait & Posture
|October 3, 2008
PubMed

Insights

Children with Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) show more complex and variable gait patterns than typically developing children. Elliptical Fourier analysis (EFA) can help distinguish these differences in movement consistency.

Area of Science:

  • Movement science
  • Pediatric motor control
  • Biomechanical analysis

Background:

  • Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) affects motor skill acquisition.
  • Assessing gait complexity and variability is crucial for understanding motor disorders.
  • Elliptical Fourier analysis (EFA) offers a quantitative method for shape analysis.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate gait differences between children with and without DCD using EFA.
  • To quantify the complexity and variability of gait patterns in children with DCD.
  • To assess movement asymmetry in the gait of children with DCD.

Main Methods:

  • Elliptical Fourier analysis (EFA) applied to gait data.
  • Comparison of gait patterns between children with DCD (N=10) and typically developing (TD) children (N=10).
  • Analysis of movement variability, complexity, and asymmetry.

Main Results:

  • Children with DCD exhibited significantly higher gait variability and complexity.
  • Greater movement asymmetry was observed in children with DCD compared to TD children.
  • EFA effectively distinguished between the gait patterns of the two groups.

Conclusions:

  • Children with DCD demonstrate impaired consistency in producing movement patterns.
  • EFA is a promising technique for identifying and differentiating motor control issues in children.
  • Findings highlight the utility of EFA in pediatric motor assessment.

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