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Updated: Apr 14, 2026
Clinical Assessment of Spatiotemporal Gait Parameters in Patients and Older Adults
Published on: November 7, 2014
Gait parameters database for young children: The influences of age and walking speed
A Van Hamme1, A El Habachi2, W Samson3
1Université de Lyon, France; Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, Villeurbanne, France; IFSTTAR, UMR_T9406, LBMC Laboratoire de Biomécanique et Mécanique des Chocs, F-69675, Bron, France; CTC, 4 rue Hermann Frenkel 69367 Lyon Cedex 7, France.
Insights
This study establishes normative biomechanical gait parameters for children aged 1-7 years, considering age and walking speed. These findings aid in detecting gait abnormalities in young patients.
Area of Science:
- Orthopaedics
- Biomechanics
- Pediatrics
Background:
- Gait databases are crucial for identifying orthopedic abnormalities.
- Existing databases lack comprehensive data for children under seven.
- Child gait is influenced by age and speed, with limited understanding of their interaction.
Purpose of the Study:
- To establish normative values for biomechanical gait parameters in children.
- To account for the influence of age, walking speed, and their interaction.
- To develop a method for detecting gait abnormalities in young children.
Main Methods:
- Gait analysis of 106 healthy children (1-7 years) at self-selected speeds.
- Computation of lower limb joint angles and power during gait cycles.
- Identification of peak biomechanical parameters and their timing using linear regressions.
Main Results:
- Regressions accurately fitted peak values and timing of biomechanical parameters.
- Normative reference targets for biomechanical parameters were deduced.
- A pathological case demonstrated the clinical relevance of the proposed targeting method.
Conclusions:
- Age-speed regressions provide valuable normative targets for pediatric gait analysis.
- This approach can assist clinicians in identifying gait abnormalities in children aged 1-7.
- The developed database enhances diagnostic capabilities in pediatric orthopaedics.
Background:
Reference databases are mandatory in orthopaedics because they enable the detection of gait abnormalities in patients. Such databases rarely include data on children under seven years of age. In young children, gait is principally influenced by age and walking speed. The influence of the age-speed interaction has not been well established. Therefore, the objective of the present study is to propose normative values for biomechanical gait parameters in children taking into account age, walking speed, and the age-speed interaction.
Methods:
Gait analyses were performed on 106 healthy children over a large age range (between one and seven years of age) during gait trials at a self-selected speed. From these gait cycles, biomechanical parameters, such as the joint angles and joint power of the lower limbs, were computed. Specific peak values and the times of occurrence of each biomechanical gait parameter were identified. Linear regressions are proposed for studying the influence of age, walking speed and the age-speed interaction.
Findings:
Most of the regressions achieved good accuracy in fitting the curve peaks and times of occurrence, and the normal reference targets of biomechanical parameters could be deduced from these regressions. The biomechanical gait parameters of a pathological case were plotted against the normal reference targets to illustrate the relevance of the proposed targeting method.
Interpretation:
The normal reference targets for biomechanical gait parameters based on age-speed regressions in a large database might help clinicians detect gait abnormalities in children from one to seven years of age.
