The heel-contact gait pattern of habitual toe walkers

We used kinematic, kinetic and EMG analysis to compare the spontaneous heel-contact gait patterns of 13 children classified as habitual toe walkers (HTWs) and age-matched controls. In the HTWs, the incidence of spontaneous heel-contact strides during a single recording session ranged from 15% to 92%...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Gait & posture 2005-04, Vol.21 (3), p.311-317
Main Authors: Crenna, P., Fedrizzi, E., Andreucci, E., Frigo, C., Bono, R.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Analysis of Variance
Biomechanical Phenomena
Case-Control Studies
Cerebral palsy
Child
Electromyography
Female
Gait - physiology
Habitual toe walking
Heel
Humans
Idiopathic toe walking
Male
Muscle, Skeletal - physiology
Ontogeny of gait
Toes
Walking - physiology
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:We used kinematic, kinetic and EMG analysis to compare the spontaneous heel-contact gait patterns of 13 children classified as habitual toe walkers (HTWs) and age-matched controls. In the HTWs, the incidence of spontaneous heel-contact strides during a single recording session ranged from 15% to 92%, with no correlation with age, passive ankle joint excursion, walking speed and trial order. Hallmarks of the heel-contact strides were premature heel-rise, reversal of the second rocker, relative shortening of the loading response and anticipation and enhancement of the electromyographic (EMG) activity normally observed in the triceps surae (TS) during the first half of the stance phase. This variant of the locomotor program is different from the walking patterns observed in normally developing toddlers and children with cerebral palsy (CP). It does not necessarily reflect a functional adaptation to changes in the rheological properties of the muscle–tendon complex.
ISSN:0966-6362
1879-2219
DOI:10.1016/j.gaitpost.2004.03.005