Weight Distribution Asymmetry in Relation to Speed During Gait in Children With Spastic Cerebral Palsy.

Weight Distribution Asymmetry in Relation to Speed During Gait in Children With Spastic Cerebral Palsy.

Background: Improving walking ability is one of the major concerns in therapeutic interventions for children with cerebral palsy.

Aim: determine the relation between the weight distributed on both lower limb and speed during walking.

sixty children with spastic diplegia (group A) and forty-five with hemiparesis ( group B) with age ranged from ten to twelve, they had spasticity grade 1 and 1+ according to modified ashworth scale and they were able to walk with assistance (level II on Gross Motor Classification System).Evaluation was held by the Biodex gait trainer for measuring weight distribution on both lower limbs and speed during gait to determine if there was a relation between weight distribution asymmetry and the speed of gait of those children

Inclusion Criteria:

The selection criteria to the diplegic group were as follows:

1. children diagnosed as spastic diplegia or hemiplegia;
2. the ability to stand independently without support for not less than 30 seconds;
3. the ability to walk independently; a classification of level II in the Gross Motor Function Classification System (GMFCS);
4. and capability to understand simple verbal commands.

Exclusion criteria:

1. Participants were excluded if they were treated for lower limbs orthopedic surgical or with botulinum toxin injection within the last 6 months
2. or if they had fixed lower limb deformity.