Temporal and spatial parameters of gait in children. II: Pathological gait.

Temporal and spatial parameters of gait were measured in 72 children with anomalous walking patterns as a result of neuromuscular impairment, 21 with childhood hemiplegia, 27 with congenital paraplegia and 24 with miscellaneous neuromotor disorders. Measurements were compared with those for a group of normal children. In all three groups, step length, average maximum foot-velocity and walking speed were reduced, double support time was increased, while cadence deviated from normal in both directions. Hemiplegic children varied considerably in their measured side-to-side gait asymmetries, suggesting a range of gait abnormalities not specified by subjective means alone. Measured gait parameters were significantly related to Hoffer grade of functional mobility in paraplegic children. Objective gait analysis using established temporal and spatial measurements is of clinical value in the management of childhood neuromuscular disorders.