Analysing gait using a force-measuring walkway: intrasession repeatability in healthy children and adolescents

The goal of this study was to determine the repeatability of gait parameters measured by a force plate gait analysis system (Leonardo Mechanograph(®) GW) in healthy children. Nineteen healthy children and adolescents (age range: 7-17 years) walked at a self-selected speed on an 11-m-long walkway. Vertical ground reaction forces were measured in the central 6 m of the walkway. Each participant performed three blocks of three trials while walking barefoot and three blocks of three trials while wearing shoes. There were no differences between trials within each condition. All force and spatiotemporal parameters had intraclass correlation coefficients above 0.87 and coefficients of variation in the order of 1-6%. In this group of healthy children and adolescents, gait analysis with a force plate system produced repeatable intra-day results.