Article

The relationship between spatiotemporal gait parameters, balance performance and
falls history was investigated in ambulant adults with cerebral palsy (CP).
Participants completed a single assessment of gait using an instrumented walkway
at preferred and fast speeds, balance testing (Balance Evaluation Systems Test;
BESTest), and reported falls history. Seventeen ambulatory adults with CP, mean
age 37 years, participated. Gait speed was typically slow at both preferred and
fast speeds (mean 0.97 and 1.21m/s, respectively), with short stride length and
high cadence relative to speed. There was a significant, large positive
relationship between preferred gait speed and BESTest total score (rho=0.573;
p<0.05) and fast gait speed and BESTest total score (rho=0.647, p<0.01). The
stride lengths of fallers at both preferred and fast speeds differed
significantly from non-fallers (p=0.032 and p=0.025, respectively), with those
with a prior history of falls taking shorter strides. Faster gait speed was
associated with better performance on tests of anticipatory and postural response
components of the BESTest, suggesting potential therapeutic training targets to
address either gait speed or balance performance. Future exploration of the
implications of slow walking speed and reduced stride length on falls and
community engagement, and the potential prognostic value of stride length on identifying falls risk is recommended.
CI - Crown Copyright (c) 2016. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Langue : ANGLAIS