title: The impacts of hinged and solid ankle-foot orthoses on standing and walking in children with spastic diplegia.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of this study was to examine the impacts of hinged and solid anklefoot orthoses (AFOs) on standing and walking abilities in children with spastic diplegia.
  
  
  METHODS
  In a quasi-experimental design, 30 children with spastic diplegia, aged 4-6 years were recruited. They were matched in terms of age, IQ, and level of GMFCS E&R. Children were randomly assigned into 3 groups: a hinged AFO group (n=10) plus occupational therapy (OT), a solid AFO group (n=10) plus OT, a control group who used only OT for three months. Gross motor abilities were measured using Gross Motor Measure Function (GMFM).
  
  
  RESULTS
  We obtained statistically significant differences in the values between baseline and after treatment in all groups. The groups were also significantly different in total GMFM after intervention. Furthermore, there were differences between hinged AFOs and solid AFOs groups, and between hinged AFOs and control groups.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We concluded that gross motor function was improved in all groups; however, hinged AFOs group appears to improve the gross motor function better than solid AFOs and control groups.
authors.affiliation: Department of Occupational Therapy, University of Social Welfare & Rehabilitation Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Hamid
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Dalvand
authors.affiliation: Department of Occupational Therapy, University of Social Welfare & Rehabilitation Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Leila
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Dehghan
authors.affiliation: Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, School of Health, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
authors.forename: Awat
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Feizi
authors.affiliation: Department of Occupational Therapy, University of Social Welfare & Rehabilitation Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Seyed Ali
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Hosseini
authors.affiliation: New Hearing Technologies Research Center, Department of Pediatric Neurology, Faculty of Medicine, Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Susan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Amirsalari
keywords: Cerebral palsy; Child; Equinus deformity; Orthosis; Rehabilitation; Spastic diplegia