Beerse Matthew, Henderson Gena, Liang Huaqing, Ajisafe Toyin, Wu Jianhua
Department of Kinesiology and Health, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA, USA; Department of Health and Sport Science, University of Dayton, Dayton, OH, USA.
Department of Kinesiology and Health, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA, USA.
Gait Posture. 2019 Feb;68:207-212. doi: 10.1016/j.gaitpost.2018.11.032. Epub 2018 Nov 27.
Increasing walking speed and including bilateral external ankle load have been shown to improve aspects of the gait pattern of children with Down syndrome (DS). However, it is unknown if speed and ankle load improves the cycle-to-cycle variability in a similar way.
How do changes of walking speed and external ankle load impact spatiotemporal variability during treadmill walking in children with and without DS?
Thirteen children with DS (aged 7-10 years) and thirteen age- and sex-matched typically developing (TD) children participated in this study. Subjects completed two bouts of 60-second treadmill walking at two different speeds (slow and fast) and two load conditions (no load and ankle load equaling to 2% bodyweight at each side). Kinematic data was captured using a Vicon motion capture system. Mean and coefficient of variance of spatiotemporal gait variables were calculated and compared between children with and without DS.
Across all conditions, the DS group took shorter and wider steps than the TD group, but walked with a similar swing percentage, double support percentage, and foot rotation angle. Further, the DS group demonstrated greater variability of all spatiotemporal parameters, except for step width and foot rotation angle. Our results indicated that children with DS can modulate their spatiotemporal gait pattern accordingly like their TD peers when walking faster on a treadmill and/or with an external ankle load. Smaller step width variability in the DS group suggests that mediolateral stability may be prioritized during treadmill walking to safely navigate the treadmill and complete walking tasks. Similar temporal parameters but distinct spatial parameters in the DS group suggest that they may have developed similar rhythmic control but are confined by their spatial movement limitations.
研究表明，提高步行速度并施加双侧外踝负荷可改善唐氏综合征（DS）患儿的步态模式。然而，速度和踝部负荷是否以类似方式改善周期间变异性尚不清楚。
步行速度和外踝负荷的变化如何影响唐氏综合征患儿和非唐氏综合征患儿在跑步机上行走时的时空变异性？
13名唐氏综合征患儿（7至10岁）和13名年龄及性别匹配的发育正常（TD）儿童参与了本研究。受试者在两种不同速度（慢速和快速）和两种负荷条件（无负荷和双侧踝部负荷均等于体重的2%）下完成了两轮60秒的跑步机行走。使用Vicon运动捕捉系统采集运动学数据。计算并比较了唐氏综合征患儿和非唐氏综合征患儿时空步态变量的平均值和变异系数。
在所有条件下，唐氏综合征组的步幅比发育正常组短且宽，但摆动百分比、双支撑百分比和足部旋转角度相似。此外，除步宽和足部旋转角度外，唐氏综合征组所有时空参数的变异性更大。我们的结果表明，唐氏综合征患儿在跑步机上行走速度更快和/或施加外踝负荷时，能够像发育正常的同龄人一样相应地调节其时空步态模式。唐氏综合征组较小的步宽变异性表明，在跑步机行走过程中，可能优先考虑内外侧稳定性，以安全地在跑步机上行走并完成步行任务。唐氏综合征组相似的时间参数但不同的空间参数表明，他们可能已经发展出相似的节奏控制，但受到其空间运动限制的约束。
