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Published on: January 15, 2016
Development of gait in spastic children with cerebral palsy
Insights
Gait analysis in 50 spastic children revealed abnormal gait parameters and stride phases. While gait velocity and stride length improved with age, stride frequency decreased, indicating slower movement and potential postural control issues.
Area of Science:
- Neurology
- Biomechanics
- Pediatrics
Background:
- Cerebral palsy, a common cause of spasticity, significantly impacts motor function.
- Understanding gait abnormalities in spastic children is crucial for targeted interventions.
Purpose of the Study:
- To analyze and characterize the gait patterns of spastic children aged 3-16 years.
- To identify age-related changes in gait parameters and stride phases in this population.
Main Methods:
- Gait analysis was performed on 50 children diagnosed with spasticity.
- Key gait parameters including velocity, stride length, frequency, stance, swing, and double support were measured and analyzed.
- Comparison with age-matched normative data was conducted.
Main Results:
- All spastic children exhibited abnormal basal gait parameters and stride phases.
- Gait velocity and stride length were lower than normal but increased with age.
- Stride frequency decreased with age, unlike normal development, suggesting a relative slowing of movement.
- Prolonged stance and double support phases were observed, indicative of impaired postural control.
- Hemiplegic children displayed asymmetric gait patterns.
Conclusions:
- Spastic children demonstrate distinct gait abnormalities, including slower movement and prolonged support phases.
- Age-related changes in gait are present, though some patterns differ from typically developing children.
- Deteriorated postural control is a significant factor contributing to the observed gait deviations in spasticity.
Abstract:
The gait of 50 spastic children 3-16 years old was recorded and analyzed. All children showed abnormal values of both basal parameters and phases of the stride. In gait velocity and stride length, their values were lower than normal, but they increased with age, with stride length increasing in parallel with normal values. Stride frequency showed a decrease with age, the reverse of normal. Stance and swing, when normalized with regard to stride duration, showed no change with age in spastic children. Also, stance was longer than in normal children, the same tendency as shown by double support. Hemiplegic children showed clearly asymmetric phases. The decreasing stride frequency with increasing age indicates a relative slowing of movements. Most changes with age were, however, the same as in normal children. The prolonged stance and double support suggest deteriorated postural control, resulting in an increased need of support.
