Article

Cerebral palsy is often associated with an abnormal gait pattern. This study put
focus on relation between muscle strength and kinetic gait pattern in children
with bilateral spastic cerebral palsy and compares them with a reference group.
In total 20 children with CP and 20 typically developing children participated.
They were all assessed with measurement of muscle strength in eight muscle groups
in the legs and a 3-dimensional gait analysis including force data. It was found
that children with CP were not only significantly weaker in all muscle groups but
also walked with slower velocity and shorter stride length when compared with the
reference group. Gait moments differed at the ankle level with significantly
lower moments in children with CP. Gait moments were closer to the maximal muscle
strength in the group of children with CP. Furthermore a correlation between
plantarflexing gait moment and muscle strength was observed in six of the eight
muscle groups in children with CP, a relation not found in the reference group. A
similar pattern was seen between muscle strength and generating ankle power with
a rho=0.582-0.766. The results of this study state the importance of the
relationship of the overall muscle strength pattern in the lower extremity, not
only the plantarflexors.
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Langue : ANGLAIS