title: Gait analysis in Down syndrome pediatric patients using a sheet-type gait analyzer: Pilot study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Children with Down syndrome (DS), who are likely to suffer from a large number of musculoskeletal problems, tend to have a unique pattern of walking in clinical settings. Despite such apparent uniqueness, few studies have empirically investigated gait development pattern in DS children, especially at an earlier age. We therefore conducted gait analysis in young DS children who are prescribed insoles, to explore how their gait patterns develop, using the gait parameters identified by Sutherland et al. as determinants of gait maturity of typical children.
  
  
  METHODS
  Participants consisted of 63 DS children (31 boys) aged 1-6 years (mean, 4 years 1 month) with a diagnosis of flat feet who were prescribed orthotic insoles. A 2.4 m sheet-type gait analyzer was used to analyze gait pattern. We measured the following variables: walking velocity (cm/min), cadence (steps/min), step length (cm), and single-limb stance phase ratio (%), and examined their relationship with age on regression analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Walking velocity and step length were significantly and positively related to age. Cadence was also significantly, but negatively associated with age. In contrast, SLS phase ratio did not have a statistically significant relationship with age.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Down syndrome children have unique gait development patterns. Although walking velocity, cadence, and step length were found to develop with age, as in typical children, SLS phase ratio did not change with age in DS children. Further studies with a larger sample are necessary to replicate these findings.
authors.affiliation: Division of Rehabilitation Medicine and Developmental Evaluation Center, Tokyo, Japan.|Department of General Pediatrics and Interdisciplinary Medicine, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Makiko
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Naito
authors.affiliation: Division of Rehabilitation Medicine and Developmental Evaluation Center, Tokyo, Japan.|Division of Allergy, National Center for Child Health and Development, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Sayaka
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Aoki
authors.affiliation: Division of Rehabilitation Medicine and Developmental Evaluation Center, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Anri
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kamide
authors.affiliation: Division of Rehabilitation Medicine and Developmental Evaluation Center, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Kohei
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Miyamura
authors.affiliation: Division of Rehabilitation Medicine and Developmental Evaluation Center, Tokyo, Japan.|Nico Children's Clinic, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Manami
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Honda
authors.affiliation: Department of General Pediatrics and Interdisciplinary Medicine, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Akira
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Nagai
authors.affiliation: Division of Rehabilitation Medicine and Developmental Evaluation Center, Tokyo, Japan.|Division of Allergy, National Center for Child Health and Development, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Hidetoshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Mezawa
authors.affiliation: Division of Rehabilitation Medicine and Developmental Evaluation Center, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Keiji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hashimoto
mesh_terms: D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004314:Down Syndrome / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005260:Female; D005528:Foot / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005684:Gait / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D011312:Pressure; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016138:Walking / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: Down syndrome; flat feet; gait analysis; gait development