Effect of altering handle position of a rolling walker on gait in children with cerebral palsy.

The purpose of this study was to determine whether altering the handle position on a rolling walker would affect the gait pattern of children with spastic cerebral palsy (CP). Sixteen children with CP (2-10 years old) performed six gait trials, three with the handle on the rolling walker positioned horizontally and three with the handle positioned vertically. Using the footprint-on-paper method, gait characteristics of right and left step width, step length, and stride length; cadence; and velocity were determined. A two-way analysis of variance for two repeated measures indicated no significant differences in the measured gait characteristics between handle positions. Significant differences between the first trial and subsequent trials for both horizontal and vertical handle positions were found using Duncan's multiple comparison test. This study suggests that in this sample of children, altering the handle position did not lead to any immediate statistically significant changes in the gait characteristics measured. Results suggest that walkers with vertical handles should not be prescribed under the assumption that the gait characteristics of the child using the walker will be changed. This study does not rule out other changes that might occur with the use of vertical-handled walkers.