Inter and intra-limb coordination variability during walking in adolescents with autism spectrum disorder

Autism spectrum disorder, a neurodevelopmental disorder, is difficult to characterize from a gait biomechanics perspective, possibly due to increased inter and intra-individual variability. Previous research illustrates increased gait variability in young children with autism, but assessments in older adolescents or at varying speeds are unavailable. The purpose of this study was to determine if adolescents with autism demonstrate increased intra-limb and inter-limb coordination variability during walking compared to age, sex, and body mass index matched controls.

Seventeen adolescents with autism (age 13-18 years) and seventeen matched controls performed walking at two matched speeds: self-selected of adolescents with autism and at 1.3 m/s. Modified vector coding was used to determine the patterns of movement for foot-shank, left/right thigh, and contralateral thigh-arm coupling. Coordination variability, a measure of cycle-to-cycle variability, was determined across the full stride. Mixed-model analyses of variance were used to determine if group by speed interactions and/or main effects existed for coordination variability.

A significant interaction existed for foot-shank variability (p = 0.039). Adolescents with autism had greater variability at self-selected speeds (p = 0.018), but not at 1.3 m/s (p = 0.593) compared to controls. Thigh-thigh coordination was greater for adolescents with ASD compared to controls at both speeds (p = 0.021). Variability was decreased at 1.3 m/s for both foot-shank (p = 0.016) and thigh-thigh (p = 0.021) coupling.

This study illustrates that adolescents with autism perform walking with increased coordination variability at both proximal and distal segments. Thus, it is likely intra-individual variability drives the disparity of movement patterns in this population.