Home About us Contact
|
Home About us Contact | ||
|
|
||
Gait Patterns (gait + pattern)
Selected AbstractsComparison of biomechanical gait parameters of young children with haemophilia and those of age-matched peersHAEMOPHILIA, Issue 2 2009D. STEPHENSEN Summary., Quality of life for children with haemophilia has improved since the introduction of prophylaxis. The frequency of joint haemorrhages has reduced, but the consequences of reduced bleeding on the biomechanical parameters of walking are not well understood. This study explored the differences in sagittal plane biomechanics of walking between a control group (Group 1) of normal age-matched children and children with haemophilia (Group 2) with a target ankle joint. A motion capture system and two force platforms were used to collect sagittal plane kinematic, kinetic and temporal,spatial data during walking of 14 age-matched normal children and 14 children with haemophilia aged 7,13 years. Group differences in maximum and minimum flexion/extension angles and moments of the hip, knee and ankle joints, ground reaction forces and temporal,spatial gait cycle parameters were analysed using one-way anova. Significant changes (P < 0.05) in kinematic and kinetic parameters but not temporal,spatial parameters were found in children with haemophilia; greater flexion angles and external moments of force at the knee, greater ankle plantarflexion external moments and lower hip flexion external moments. These results suggest that early biomechanical changes are present in young haemophilic children with a history of a target ankle joint and imply that lower limb joint function is more impaired than current clinical evaluations indicate. Protocols and quantitative data on the biomechanical gait pattern of children with haemophilia reported in this study provide a baseline to evaluate lower limb joint function and clinical progression. [source] Botulinumtoxin A treatment in toddlers with cerebral palsyACTA PAEDIATRICA, Issue 8 2010K Tedroff Abstract Aims:, In this study the aim was to evaluate the effect of botulinum toxin A (BoNT-A) treatment on muscle tone, contracture development and gait pattern in young children with cerebral palsy (CP). Method:, Fifteen children with spastic CP (mean age = 16 months) were included in a randomized control study. All received a daily stretching programme and children in the BoNT-A group additionally received two injections, 6 months apart in the gastrocnemius muscle. Outcomes were assessed at baseline, and after 1 and 3.5 years. A 3D gait-analysis was performed at 5 years of age. Results:, Plantarflexor muscle tone in the BoNT-A group was significantly reduced after 3.5 years, while the muscle tone at the ankle and knee in the control group remained unchanged. The change-score in knee-flexion muscle tone between the groups was significantly different after 3.5 years. The knee joint ROM was significantly increased at 1 year in the BoNT-A group but reduced at the knee and ankle joints in the control group after 3.5 years. No group differences were found for gait analysis, GMFM-66 or PEDI. Conclusion:, Early treatment of BoNT-A in children with spastic CP may decrease muscle tone and decelerate contracture development after 3.5 years. The effect on gait development remains inconclusive. [source] Exploring effects of different treadmill interventions on walking onset and gait patterns in infants with Down syndromeDEVELOPMENTAL MEDICINE & CHILD NEUROLOGY, Issue 11 2007Jianhua Wu PhD Two cohorts of participants were included to investigate the effects of different treadmill interventions on walking onset and gait patterns in infants with Down syndrome (DS). The first cohort included 30 infants with DS (17 males, 13 females; mean age 10mo [SD 1.9mo]) who were randomly assigned to either a lower-intensity-generalized (LG) training group, or a higher-intensity-individualized (HI) training group. A control (C) group from another study, who did not receive treadmill training, served as the control (eight males, seven females; mean age 10.4mo [SD 2.2mo]). Mean age at walking onset was 19.2, 21.4, and 23.9 months for the HI, LG, and C groups respectively. At walking onset the HI group was significantly younger than the C group (p=0.011). At the gait follow-up that was conducted between 1 and 3 months after walking onset, three groups significantly different in overall gait patterns (p=0.037) were examined by six basic gait parameters including average velocity, stride length, step width, stride time, stance time, and dynamic base. Post-hoc analyses demonstrated that stride length was the gait parameter largely contributing to this overall group difference (p=0.033), and the HI group produced a significantly longer stride length than the C group (p=0.030). In conclusion, the HI treadmill intervention significantly promoted earlier walking onset and elicited more advanced gait patterns (particularly in stride length) in infants with DS. [source] Change in action: how infants learn to walk down slopesDEVELOPMENTAL SCIENCE, Issue 6 2009Simone V. Gill A critical aspect of perception,action coupling is the ability to modify ongoing actions in accordance with variations in the environment. Infants' ability to modify their gait patterns to walk down shallow and steep slopes was examined at three nested time scales. Across sessions, a microgenetic training design showed rapid improvements after the first session in infants receiving concentrated practice walking down slopes and in infants in a control group who were tested only at the beginning and end of the study. Within sessions, analyses across easy and challenging slope angles showed that infants used a ,braking strategy' to curb increases in walking speed across increasingly steeper slopes. Within trials, comparisons of infants' gait modifications before and after stepping over the brink of the slopes showed that the braking strategy was planned prospectively. Findings illustrate how observing change in action provides important insights into the process of skill acquisition. [source] Gait disturbances in patients with schizophrenia and adaptation to treadmill walkingPSYCHIATRY AND CLINICAL NEUROSCIENCES, Issue 3 2005ALBERT PUTZHAMMER md Abstract, This study evaluated the gait patterns of schizophrenic patients at free gait and at three fixed velocities on a treadmill. The effects of illness and antipsychotic treatment on gait parameters and on adaptation to treadmill walking were compared. Gait parameters of 14 drug-naïve schizophrenic patients, 14 patients treated with conventional antipsychotics, 14 patients treated with olanzapine, as well as 14 matched controls were assessed on a walkway and on a treadmill at three different velocities (very slow, intermediately slow, and comfortable) using an ultrasonic movement analysis system. At free gait, all patients showed a significantly decreased gait velocity, predominantly due to a shorter stride length, when compared to the controls, with the most striking difference observed between the patients treated with conventional neuroleptics and the controls (anova, P , 0.001). Cadence (steps per second) did not differ between the investigated groups. When gait was evaluated on the treadmill, differences in stride length and cadence were significant only at the very slow treadmill velocity (anova, P , 0.05). In all patient groups, mean stride length was decreased and cadence compensationally increased. Significant differences between the patient groups were no longer detectable. With increasing treadmill velocities, gait parameters of all patient groups normalized. The results show that, like in patients with Parkinson's Disease, impaired gait parameters can also be normalized in schizophrenic patients by external stimulation via treadmill walking. [source] | ||||||||||