Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 27, 2026
Sit-to-stand-and-walk from 120% Knee Height: A Novel Approach to Assess Dynamic Postural Control Independent of Lead-limb
Published on: August 30, 2016
Stability and harmony of gait in children with cerebral palsy
Marco Iosa1, Tiziana Marro, Stefano Paolucci
1Clinical Laboratory of Experimental Neurorehabilitation, Fondazione Santa Lucia IRCCS, Rome, Italy. m.iosa@hsantalucia.it
Insights
Children with cerebral palsy exhibit altered gait stability and harmony compared to typically developing peers. Their upper body movements are linked to gait speed, suggesting compensatory strategies.
Area of Science:
- Biomedical Engineering
- Pediatric Neurology
- Movement Science
Background:
- Cerebral palsy (CP) significantly impacts motor function, particularly gait.
- Quantitative assessment of gait in children with CP is crucial for understanding motor control deficits.
Purpose of the Study:
- To quantitatively evaluate gait stability and harmony in children with spastic hemiplegia due to cerebral palsy (CP).
- To compare gait parameters between children with CP and typically developing (TD) children.
- To investigate the relationship between gait parameters, age, and walking speed in both groups.
Main Methods:
- Seventeen children with spastic hemiplegia CP and seventeen age-matched TD children participated.
- A 10-m walking test was conducted using a wearable sensor (triaxial accelerometer and gyroscopes) on the lower trunk.
- Three gait stability and three gait harmony parameters were computed.
Main Results:
- Significant differences in all computed gait stability and harmony parameters were found between children with CP and TD children (p<0.020).
- In TD children, trunk accelerations negatively correlated with age (controlled for walking speed).
- In children with CP, upper body accelerations positively correlated with gait speed (antero-posterior direction) but not age.
Conclusions:
- Children with CP demonstrate distinct gait stability and harmony patterns compared to TD children.
- Gait in children with CP appears to involve compensatory mechanisms related to upper body accelerations and gait speed.
- These findings highlight the need for targeted interventions to improve gait mechanics in pediatric CP.
Abstract:
The aim of this study was to quantitatively assess the stability and harmony of gait in children with cerebral palsy. Seventeen children with spastic hemiplegia due to cerebral palsy (5.0±2.3 years old) who were able to walk autonomously and seventeen age-matched children with typical development (5.7±2.5 years old, p=0.391) performed a 10-m walking test with a wearable device fixed to their lower trunk and included a triaxial accelerometer and three gyroscopes. Three parameters related to gait stability and three related to gait harmony were computed; all of these yielded significant differences between children with cerebral palsy and those with typical development (p<0.020 for all the computed parameters). In the latter group of children, trunk accelerations were found to be negatively correlated with age (partial correlation controlled for walking speed: R(p)<-0.58, p>0.020). Conversely, in children with cerebral palsy, the upper body accelerations were proportionally correlated with their gait speed (R=0.548, p=0.023 in the antero-posterior direction) but not with their age (p>0.05). This finding can be related both to difficulties in managing the higher upper body accelerations involved in rapid walking and to compensation strategies.
