title: Children require less gait kinematic adaptations to pull a trolley than to carry a backpack.
abstract: To transport school materials, trolleys have been proposed for children as an alternative to carrying a backpack. However, there is limited evidence comparing the adaptations associated with carrying school trolley versus backpack. This study compared the effects of carrying a backpack and pulling a trolley on gait kinematics in children. Fifty-three students were evaluated. Children walked at self-selected speeds across a walkway with no bag (control), carrying a backpack with the 15% of child́s body weight (%BW) and pulling a trolley with the same load. Spatiotemporal gait parameters and 3D kinematics of lower extremities and thorax were computed. No significant differences were obtained in spatiotemporal parameters between pulling a trolley and control. Carrying a backpack resulted in larger kinematics gait alterations than pulling the trolley compared to control. In conclusion, pulling a school trolley (15%BW) was more similar to not carrying a bag than carrying a backpack of the same load during level walking.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Education and Sports, University of Granada, Granada, Spain. Electronic address: maevor@ugr.es.
authors.forename: Eva
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Orantes-Gonzalez
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Education and Sports, University of Granada, Granada, Spain.
authors.forename: Jose
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Heredia-Jimenez
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Therapy, California State University Long Beach, Long Beach, CA, USA.
authors.forename: George J
authors.initials: GJ
authors.lastname: Beneck
mesh_terms: D001415:Back / Q000502:physiology*; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D005684:Gait; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010988:Play and Playthings; D004856:Postural Balance; D016138:Walking; D016474:Weight-Bearing
keywords: Gait; Load; Students; Wheeled backpack