THREE-DIMENSIONAL ANALYSIS OF TRUNK KINEMATICS DURING THE WALKING GAIT OF TYPICALLY DEVELOPING CHILDREN

Abstract

Walking is an essential part of human development and an accessible form of physical activity. The research conducted evaluated the effect of different walking speeds (i.e., normal, fast, and slow walking speeds) and different age groups (i.e., 5-7, 8-10, 11-13 years old) on the upper body kinematics (i.e., vertical centre of mass displacement, hip, and trunk movement) during the walking gait cycle. Eighteen typically developing children (n = 18) participated from three different age groups: group A (5-7 years old), group B (8-10 years old), and group C (11-13 years old). The children walked for four to six meters for three trials at each different walking speed. The results show that there are statistically significant differences on lower limb spatio-temporal parameters, which indicate an effect of walking speed and different age groups. Furthermore, the upper body kinematics ROM (i.e., hip and trunk) increased significantly (p < 0.05) with age groups in all parameters, except for hip internal-external rotation. Additionally, statistically significant differences (p < 0.05) were present on all upper body kinematics ROM, except for the trunk adduction-abduction parameter with faster walking speeds. This research has found that as children develop there are differences in their walking gait pattern regarding the upper body, where children begin to utilise their trunk and hips to propel themselves forward. The chronological age and walking speed have shown promising insights for rehabilitation and training intervention in increasing the range of motion and the utilising upper body. Future research is recommended to conduct an evaluation of both the kinetics and kinematics of children’s walking gait patterns.

Date of Award	2024
Original language	American English
Awarding Institution	HBKU College of Health & Life Sciences