title: Effect of gait speed changes on foot loading characteristics in children.
abstract: Gait speed has been shown to influence foot loading patterns in adults but the mechanism has not been investigated in children. The present study investigated the effects of changes in gait speed on foot loading characteristics in 20 typically developing children who participated in plantar pressure measurements at normal, slow and fast walking speeds. In spite of shorter contact times in the fast walking speed condition, significantly increased foot loading was seen in the hindfoot, medial and central forefoot and toes while it slightly decreased in the lateral midfoot and forefoot. The results generally confirm the findings in adults that gait speed does not uniformly affect foot loading characteristics and that these effects should be kept in mind when comparing different subject groups or children at repeated measurement occasions.
authors: Movement Analysis Lab, Institute for Experimental Musculoskeletal Medicine, University Hospital Münster, Germany. Electronic address: diro@uni-muenster.de.
authors: Dieter
authors: D
authors: Rosenbaum
authors: Meike
authors: M
authors: Westhues
authors: Kerstin
authors: K
authors: Bosch
mesh_terms: D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D002648:Child; D005528:Foot / Q000502:physiology*; D005684:Gait / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D011312:Pressure; D016474:Weight-Bearing / Q000502:physiology
keywords: Children's feet; Foot loading; Gait speed; Pedobarography; Walking velocity