Forceplates data reliability tested on children with neuromuscular disabilities

The "gait cycle" is considered the fundamental repetitive element of locomotion and is often used in comparative analyses between pathological and normal gait. One device that is used to measure ground reaction forces in the gait laboratory is a six degrees of freedom force transducer ("Force Plate"). Gait labs use two or more force plates to measure forces during one or two complete strides. Often, the walker "aims" to step sequentially on the force plates. This aiming may cause significant distortion of the person's gait pattern. To validate the measured result as representative of the individual's gait, a "Gait Consistency Test" was developed by Seliktar et.al with a group of adult individuals. The present study employed the consistency test to the ground reaction force records of two groups of children; typically developing children and children with cerebral palsy. The children's gait consistency study yielded even better results than the adult study; the results showed that the consistency test is useful for screening children's gait data and should be used to ensure higher fidelity of the measured data. The test applied equally to normally developing children and to children with gait pathologies.