The Effect of Simulating Weight Gain on the Energy Cost of Walking in Unimpaired Children and Children With Cerebral Palsy
Presented to the European Society for Movement Analysis in Adults and Children, September 27–29, 2007, Athens, Greece.
Abstract
Plasschaert F, Jones K, Forward M. The effect of simulating weight gain on the energy cost of walking in unimpaired children and children with cerebral palsy.
Objective
To examine the effect of simulating weight gain on the energy cost of walking in children with cerebral palsy (CP) compared with unimpaired children.
Design
Repeated measures, matched subjects, controlled.
Setting
University hospital clinical gait and movement analysis laboratory.
Participants
Children (n=42) with CP and unimpaired children (n=42).
Interventions
Addition of 10% of body mass in weight belt.
Main Outcome Measures
Energy cost of walking parameters consisting of walking speed, Physiological Cost Index, Total Heart Beat Index, oxygen uptake (V̇o2), gross oxygen cost, nondimensional net oxygen cost, and net oxygen cost with speed normalized to height were measured by using a breath-by-breath gas analysis system (K4b2) and a light beam timing gate system arranged around a figure 8 track. Two walking trials were performed in random order, with and the other without wearing a weighted belt.
Results
Children with CP and their unimpaired counterparts responded in fundamentally different ways to weight gain. The unimpaired population maintained speed and V̇o2 but the children with CP trended toward a drop in their speed and an increase in their V̇o2. The oxygen consumption of children with CP showed a greater dependence on mass than the unimpaired group (P=.043).
Conclusions
An increase of a relatively small percentage in body mass began to significantly impact the energy cost of walking in children with CP. This result highlights the need for weight control to sustain the level of functional walking in these children.
aMovement Analysis Laboratory, University Hospital, Ghent, Belgium
bFaculty of Engineering, Institute of Biomedical Technology, University of Ghent, Ghent, Belgium
Correspondence to Frank Plasschaert, MD, Department of Orthopedics & Traumatology, University Hospital Ghent, De Pintelaan 185, 9000 Gent, Belgium
Supported by Research Fellowship Funding, Robert Jones & Agnes Hunt Orthopedic Hospital Oswestry, Shropshire, UK.
No commercial party having a direct financial interest in the results of the research supporting this article has or will confer a benefit on the authors or on any organization with which the authors are associated.
ABSTRACT