This important monograph summarizes a comprehensive study on the maturation of walking in normal children. Research, undertaken at one of the world's leading gait analysis centers, involved over 400 studies on a total of nearly 300 children in ten age-groups from one to seven years. Data are presented on anthropometric measurements; tests of developmental progress; time/distance parameters such as stride length and walking velocity; twelve joint angles on each side measured throughout the gait cycle; dynamic electromyography of phasic activity in seven lower-extremity muscle groups; and force measurements including vertical force, fore/aft shear, medial/lateral shear and torque. At each age, composite joint-angle graphs and time/distance parameters are brought together with film tracings of a representative child in that age group. In addition, advanced methods of statistical analysis have been applied to the joint-angle data to define prediction regions within which ninety-five percent of normal children should lie throughout the gait cycle. Finally, a 'decision tree' is presented from which a fitted age can be inferred for a subject based on non-age-specific data gathered in a motion analysis lab. Practical applications are demonstrated in a chapter devoted to two case studies.

Table of Contents

Foreword Martin Bax; 1. Introduction; 2. Methods; 3. Modeling and prediction regions for motion data; 4. Study plan; 5. Anthropometric measurements and developmental screening; 6. Time/distance parameters by age; 7. Joint angles and film tracings; 8. Dynamic electromyography by age; 9. Force-plate values by age; 10. Age and gait; 11. Relationship between neural development and walking; 12. Relevance to clinical practice; 13. Future directions; Appendices; References; Acknowledgements; Index.