Overground versus self-paced treadmill walking in a virtual environment in children with cerebral palsy.
Study Goal
The researchers aimed to compare gait parameters and subjective scores between self-paced treadmill walking in a virtual environment, overground walking in a conventional gait lab, and natural walking outside a lab environment.
Results Summary
The study found that walking in lab conditions (both treadmill and conventional gait lab) resulted in slower speeds and shorter strides compared to natural walking. Treadmill walking showed slightly more deviating knee and ankle kinematics, possibly due to increased fatigue from longer continuous walking time.
Population
11 typically developing children and 9 children with cerebral palsy.
Effective Dosage
Not specified
Duration
Not specified
Interactions
None mentioned
| Intervention | Direction | Endpoint | Population | Dosage | Impact | Claim # |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
walking on a self-paced treadmill in a virtual environment (TM+) | decrease | walking speed | 11 typically developing (TD) children and 9 children with cerebral palsy (CP) | - | Subjects walked slower | #1 |
walking on a self-paced treadmill in a virtual environment (TM+) | decrease | stride length | 11 typically developing (TD) children and 9 children with cerebral palsy (CP) | - | Subjects walked with shorter strides | #2 |
walking on a self-paced treadmill in a virtual environment (TM+) | increase | stride width | 11 typically developing (TD) children and 9 children with cerebral palsy (CP) | 3-4 cm | Stride width was wider | #3 |
walking on a self-paced treadmill in a virtual environment (TM+) | increase | pelvic tilt | children with CP | 2° | walked with on average more pelvic tilt | #4 |
walking on a self-paced treadmill in a virtual environment (TM+) | increase | knee flexion at initial contact | children with CP | 7° | walked with more knee flexion at initial contact | #5 |
walking on a self-paced treadmill in a virtual environment (TM+) | increase | knee and ankle kinematics | children with CP | - | walked with more deviating knee and ankle kinematics | #6 |
walking in a conventional gait lab (CGL) | decrease | walking speed | 11 typically developing (TD) children and 9 children with cerebral palsy (CP) | - | Subjects walked slower | #7 |
walking in a conventional gait lab (CGL) | decrease | stride length | 11 typically developing (TD) children and 9 children with cerebral palsy (CP) | - | Subjects walked with shorter strides | #8 |
Treadmill walking offers several advantages for clinical gait analysis and gait training, but may affect gait parameters. We compared walking on a self-paced treadmill in a virtual environment (TM+) with overground walking in a conventional gait lab (CGL), and with natural walking (NW) outside a lab environment on a GaitRite measurement mat, for 11 typically developing (TD) children and 9 children with cerebral palsy (CP). Spatiotemporal parameters and subjective scores on similarity to normal walking were compared between all three conditions, while kinematic parameters and Gait and Motion Analysis Profile Scores (GPS and MAP) were compared between CGL and TM+. Subjects walked slower and with shorter strides in both lab conditions compared to NW. Stride width was 3-4 cm wider in TM+ than in CGL and NW. Mean kinematic curves showed a few differences between CGL and TM+: on the treadmill children with CP walked with on average 2° more pelvic tilt, 7° more knee flexion at initial contact, and more deviating knee and ankle kinematics as indicated by the MAP scores. These differences may in part be due to increased fatigue in TM+ as a result of longer continuous walking time. Our results indicate that differences between self-paced treadmill walking in a VR and walking in a conventional gait lab are generally small, but need to be taken into account when performing gait analysis on a treadmill.