Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 13, 2026
Training Persons with Spinal Cord Injury to Ambulate Using a Powered Exoskeleton
Published on: June 16, 2016
Ability and stability of running and walking in children with cerebral palsy
Marco Iosa1, Daniela Morelli, Tiziana Marro
1Clinical Laboratory of Experimental Neurorehabilitation, Fondazione Santa Lucia IRCCS, Rome, Italy. m.iosa@hsantalucia.it
Insights
Children with cerebral palsy (CP) run slower but maintain gait stability, with improved anteroposterior movement harmony compared to walking. This study quantifies running gait in CP.
Area of Science:
- Biomedical Engineering
- Pediatric Rehabilitation
- Movement Science
Background:
- Cerebral palsy (CP) affects motor skills, with walking extensively studied.
- Running gait in children with CP remains under-researched, presenting controversial findings.
Purpose of the Study:
- To quantitatively assess running and walking gait ability and stability in children with hemiplegic CP.
- To compare gait parameters between children with CP and typically developing peers during locomotion.
Main Methods:
- 20 children with spastic hemiplegia (CPG) and 20 typically developing children (TDG) participated.
- A 10-m walking/running test was performed using a wearable triaxial accelerometer.
- Spatiotemporal parameters, acceleration, and harmonic/symmetry ratios were analyzed.
Main Results:
- CPG exhibited significantly slower gait speeds during both walking (-14%) and running (-19%) compared to TDG.
- No significant differences in gait stability were found between groups during running.
- Gait harmony along the anteroposterior axis improved in CPG during running, becoming similar to TDG.
Conclusions:
- Children with CP demonstrate slower running speeds but maintain comparable gait stability to typically developing children.
- Running may offer improved anteroposterior movement harmony in children with CP compared to their walking gait.
- These findings highlight specific adaptations in running biomechanics for children with hemiplegic CP.
Objectives:
Many studies have examined how children with cerebral palsy (CP) manage to walk, but few have investigated running, yielding controversial results. The aim of this study was to quantitatively assess gait ability and its stability in children with hemiplegic CP while running and walking.
Methods:
A group of 20 children with spastic hemiplegia due to CP (CPG, 5.1 ± 2.3 years old), and a group of 20 children with typical development (TDG, 5.9 ± 2.6 years old) underwent a 10-m walking/running test with a wearable triaxial accelerometer fixed to their lower trunk. Spatiotemporal gait parameters, root mean squares of upper body acceleration, and related harmonic and symmetry ratios were computed.
Results:
Differences in gait speed were significantly higher during running ( - 19% for CPG with respect of TDG) than during walking ( - 14%, p = 0.028). Conversely, no significant changes were observed in terms of gait stability, and the differences in terms of gait harmony along anteroposterior axis recorded during walking ( - 43%, p < 0.001) disappeared during running ( + 3%, p = 0.834).
Conclusions:
During running, children with CP are slower than children with TD, but their gait was not less stable, and the harmony of their anteroposterior movements was even more similar to TDG than during walking.
