Quantifying weight-bearing by children with cerebral palsy while in passive standers.
OBJECTIVE
Children who are nonambulatory are placed into standers with the goal of providing benefits from weight-bearing. The purpose of this study was to quantify weight-bearing loads by children with cerebral palsy while in standers.


METHODS
Electronic load-measuring footplates were fabricated specifically for this study. Weight-bearing loads were continuously measured in 19 children who were nonambulatory during routine 30-minute standing sessions (3-6 sessions/child, total 110 sessions).


RESULTS
Weight-bearing ranged widely (23%-102%) with a mean of 68% of body weight. There was some variation over the course of a session and between different sessions, but more variance was noted between subjects.


CONCLUSIONS
Actual weight borne in a stander is quite variable, and in some instances only a fraction of actual body weight. Further studies are required to delineate relevant factors and identify ways to maximize weight-bearing loads while in a stander.
Herman
Daniel
D
Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA.
May
Ryan
R
Vogel
Lois
L
Johnson
Julie
J
Henderson
Richard C
RC
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D018488:Bone Demineralization, Pathologic / Q000517:prevention & control; D002547:Cerebral Palsy / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D006801:Humans; D026741:Physical Therapy Modalities / Q000295:instrumentation*; D011782:Quadriplegia / Q000534:rehabilitation; D016474:Weight-Bearing / Q000502:physiology*