Gait analysis of children with spastic hemiplegic cerebral palsy

Xin Wang, Yuexi Wang, Xin Wang, Yuexi Wang

Abstract

An experiment was carried out in the key laboratory for Technique Diagnosis and Function Assessment of Winter Sports of China to investigate the differences in gait characteristics between healthy children and children with spastic hemiplegic cerebral palsy. With permission of their parents, 200 healthy children aged 3 to 6 years in the kindergarten of Northeastern University were enrolled in this experiment. Twenty children aged 3 to 6 years with spastic hemiplegic cerebral palsy from Shengjing Hospital, China were also enrolled in this experiment. Standard data were collected by simultaneously recording gait information from two digital cameras. DVracker was used to analyze the standard data. The children with hemiplegic cerebral palsy had a longer gait cycle, slower walking speed, and longer support phase than did the healthy children. The support phase was longer than the swing phase in the children with hemiplegic cerebral palsy. There were significant differences in the angles of the hip, knee, and ankle joint between children with cerebral palsy and healthy children at the moment of touching the ground and buffering, and during pedal extension. Children with hemiplegic cerebral palsy had poor motor coordination during walking, which basically resulted in a short stride, high stride frequency to maintain speed, more obvious swing, and poor stability.

Keywords: ankle; children; gait analysis; hip; knee; neural regeneration; spastic hemiplegic cerebral palsy; walking.

Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of interest: None declared.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Ratio of step length to height of 3- to 6-year-old children during walking. The average ratio of step length to height of children with cerebral palsy (CP) was 0.16, which was much lower than that of healthy children.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Angle changes in both hips of 3-year-old children. Each frame interval time was 0.02 seconds. CP: Cerebral palsy.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Knee joint angle changes in 4-year-old children. Each frame interval time was 0.02 seconds. CP: Cerebral palsy.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Trunk pitch angle changes in 4-year-old children. Each frame interval time was 0.02 seconds. CP: Cerebral palsy.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Change in vertical gravity center position of 4-year-old children. Each frame interval time was 0.02 seconds. CP: Cerebral palsy.

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Source: PubMed

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