Article

Objective quantitative evaluation of motor skill development is of increasing
importance to carefully drive physical exercise programs in childhood. Running is
a fundamental motor skill humans adopt to accomplish locomotion, which is linked
to physical activity levels, although the assessment is traditionally carried out
using qualitative evaluation tests. The present study aimed at investigating the
feasibility of using inertial sensors to quantify developmental differences in
the running pattern of young children. Qualitative and quantitative assessment
tools were adopted to identify a skill-sensitive set of biomechanical parameters
for running and to further our understanding of the factors that determine
progression to skilled running performance. Running performances of 54 children
between the ages of 2 and 12 years were submitted to both qualitative and
quantitative analysis, the former using sequences of developmental level, the
latter estimating temporal and kinematic parameters from inertial sensor
measurements. Discriminant analysis with running developmental level as dependent
variable allowed to identify a set of temporal and kinematic parameters, within
those obtained with the sensor, that best classified children into the
qualitative developmental levels (accuracy higher than 67%). Multivariate
analysis of variance with the quantitative parameters as dependent variables
allowed to identify whether and which specific parameters or parameter subsets
were differentially sensitive to specific transitions between contiguous
developmental levels. The findings showed that different sets of temporal and
kinematic parameters are able to tap all steps of the transitional process in
running skill described through qualitative observation and can be prospectively
used for applied diagnostic and sport training purposes.
CI - Copyright (c) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Langue : ANGLAIS