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Updated: Sep 23, 2025
Clinical-oriented Three-dimensional Gait Analysis Method for Evaluating Gait Disorder
Published on: March 4, 2018
Three-dimensional gait analysis of lower extremity gait parameters in Japanese children aged 6 to 12 years
Tadashi Ito1,2, Koji Noritake3, Yuji Ito4,5
1Three-Dimensional Motion Analysis Room, Aichi Prefectural Mikawa Aoitori Medical and Rehabilitation Center for Developmental Disabilities, 9-3 Koyaba Kouryuji Cho, Okazaki, 444-0002, Japan. sanjigen@mikawa-aoitori.jp.
Insights
This study established gait standards for Japanese children aged 6-12 years, revealing age-related differences in gait parameters and patterns. These findings aid in assessing developmental changes and identifying gait abnormalities in children.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Gait Analysis
- Developmental Kinematics
- Biomechanical Standards
Background:
- Establishing normative gait data is crucial for pediatric clinical practice.
- Understanding age-related gait variations in children is essential for accurate assessment.
- Existing gait data may not fully represent diverse pediatric populations.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop normative gait parameters for school-aged Japanese children (6-12 years).
- To investigate age-related differences in gait patterns and parameters within this cohort.
- To create a developmental centile chart for pediatric gait analysis.
Main Methods:
- Utilized a 3D gait analysis system to collect kinematic, kinetic, and spatiotemporal data.
- Recruited 424 children aged 6-12 years from elementary schools.
- Subdivided participants into three age groups (6-8, 9-10, 11-12 years) for analysis.
Main Results:
- Older children exhibited longer non-normalized stride/step lengths and lower cadence; normalized data showed opposite trends.
- Significant age-related differences were observed in ankle moment, hip/knee flexion angles, and normalized spatiotemporal parameters.
- Japanese children's gait parameters differed from those reported in international studies.
Conclusions:
- The developed centile chart serves as a valuable clinical tool for assessing pediatric gait development.
- The study highlights unique gait characteristics in Japanese children compared to other populations.
- Findings support the need for age- and population-specific gait standards in pediatric assessment.
Abstract:
We aimed to develop gait standards for gait parameters in school-aged Japanese children and assess age-related differences in gait patterns and parameters. Children aged 6-12 years (n = 424) were recruited from two elementary schools. An instrumented three-dimensional gait analysis system was used to record each child's gait kinematics, kinetics, and spatiotemporal parameters. Participants were subdivided into three age groups (Group A, 6-8 years; Group B, 9-10 years; and Group C, 11-12 years). LMS Chartmaker, version 2.54, was used to create a developmental chart for the gait pattern. The non-normalized step and stride lengths were significantly longer, and the cadence was lower in older children; however, the opposite outcome occurred when analyzing normalized data. Ankle moment differed significantly by age, and the maximum ankle moment was higher in older children than that in younger children. Furthermore, the hip and knee flexion angles during gait and the normalized spatiotemporal parameters of Japanese children aged 6-12 years differed by age and from those of children from other countries. The centile chart of the gait pattern is a useful tool for clinicians to assess developmental changes in the gait pattern and detect gait abnormalities in children.
