Abstract

The gait patterns of 39 nonhandicapped children and six children with cerebral palsy (CP) were evaluated using computerized highspeed cinematography. Variability of gait was measureed during 10 nonconsecutive cycles for each subject. Gait in normal 9-year-old children was found to be similar to that observed in adults. Children with CP demonstrated greater intrasubject variations in individual gait compared to their nonhandicapped peers. Stride length, velocity, and range of motion were related to the severity of physical handicap. Intraindividual variability was greater among subjects with CP classified as mildly spastic than in those considered to have only moderate neurologic impairment. This may signify that less handicapped children are capable of varying the components of their walking pattern to a larger extent than those more severely affected, but at the same time do not possess the same degree of automatic motor control as nonhandicapped children. Computerized gait analysis can be valuable in supplementing routine clinical gait analysis in CP. Verf.-Referat