Determining Normative Gait Patterns in a Healthy University-Aged Canadian Population Utilizing the GAITRite® System.
Type of Proposal
Oral presentation
Faculty
Faculty of Human Kinetics
Faculty Sponsor
Dr. Paula van Wyk
Proposal
Human gait can consist of both the walking and running aspects of the human locomotion pattern and may be analyzed from a kinetic and/or kinematic focus (Hamil & Knutzen, 2009). Abnormal gait patterns often arise in part due to physical declines resulting from an injury, the aging process (Owings & Grabiner, 2004), or due to neurological disorders such as Parkinson’s and Huntington’s disease (Hausdorff et al, 1998). In order to compare gait throughout the lifespan, or throughout a rehabilitation process, it is important to determine the standards of a healthy population. The aim of this investigation was to establish the normative standards of specific temporal and spatial characteristics of gait in a healthy university-aged Canadian population. Twenty temporal measures and eleven spatial measures of gait were collected using the GAITRite® system (CIR Systems, Inc., New York, USA). Using a standardized protocol, participants (n=225; 127 male, 98 female) were instructed to begin walking approximately two meters behind where the GAITRite® system pressure sensor embedded mat was located on the floor, and to walk across the mat using their normal gait pattern at their preferred pace. All participants were Canadian university-aged adults and consented to the data collection and analysis as part of a kinesiology laboratory based course. Descriptive statistics, reported by sex, were analyzed on twenty temporal measures [e.g. Mean Step Time Left (M= 0.56s, F= 0.52s), Mean Cycle Time Left (M= 1.11s, F= 1.02s)] and eleven spatial measures [e.g. Mean Step Length Left (M= 82.55 cm, F= 77.26 cm), Mean Heel to Heel base of support Left (M= 10.74 cm, F= 9.16 cm)]. The literature lacks an extensive analysis of temporal and spatial gait characteristics for a young, healthy Canadian population during unaltered conditions; which the results of this study can now provide. Future research and rehabilitation programs can apply these results when comparing to data collected in clinical and laboratory settings. References Hamill J, & Knutzen KM. Biomechanical Basis of Human Movement. 3rd. Philadelphia: Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins; 2009. Hausdorff J, Cudkowicz M, Firton R, Wei J, & Goldberger A. (1998). Gait variability and basal ganglia disorders: Stride to Stride Variations of gait cycle timing in Parkinson’s disease and Huntington’s disease. Movement Disorders, 13(3), 428-437. Owings T, & Grabiner M. (2004). Variability of step kinematics in young and older adults. Gait & Posture, 20(1), 26-35.
Start Date
29-3-2016 1:00 PM
End Date
29-3-2016 2:20 PM
Determining Normative Gait Patterns in a Healthy University-Aged Canadian Population Utilizing the GAITRite® System.
Human gait can consist of both the walking and running aspects of the human locomotion pattern and may be analyzed from a kinetic and/or kinematic focus (Hamil & Knutzen, 2009). Abnormal gait patterns often arise in part due to physical declines resulting from an injury, the aging process (Owings & Grabiner, 2004), or due to neurological disorders such as Parkinson’s and Huntington’s disease (Hausdorff et al, 1998). In order to compare gait throughout the lifespan, or throughout a rehabilitation process, it is important to determine the standards of a healthy population. The aim of this investigation was to establish the normative standards of specific temporal and spatial characteristics of gait in a healthy university-aged Canadian population. Twenty temporal measures and eleven spatial measures of gait were collected using the GAITRite® system (CIR Systems, Inc., New York, USA). Using a standardized protocol, participants (n=225; 127 male, 98 female) were instructed to begin walking approximately two meters behind where the GAITRite® system pressure sensor embedded mat was located on the floor, and to walk across the mat using their normal gait pattern at their preferred pace. All participants were Canadian university-aged adults and consented to the data collection and analysis as part of a kinesiology laboratory based course. Descriptive statistics, reported by sex, were analyzed on twenty temporal measures [e.g. Mean Step Time Left (M= 0.56s, F= 0.52s), Mean Cycle Time Left (M= 1.11s, F= 1.02s)] and eleven spatial measures [e.g. Mean Step Length Left (M= 82.55 cm, F= 77.26 cm), Mean Heel to Heel base of support Left (M= 10.74 cm, F= 9.16 cm)]. The literature lacks an extensive analysis of temporal and spatial gait characteristics for a young, healthy Canadian population during unaltered conditions; which the results of this study can now provide. Future research and rehabilitation programs can apply these results when comparing to data collected in clinical and laboratory settings. References Hamill J, & Knutzen KM. Biomechanical Basis of Human Movement. 3rd. Philadelphia: Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins; 2009. Hausdorff J, Cudkowicz M, Firton R, Wei J, & Goldberger A. (1998). Gait variability and basal ganglia disorders: Stride to Stride Variations of gait cycle timing in Parkinson’s disease and Huntington’s disease. Movement Disorders, 13(3), 428-437. Owings T, & Grabiner M. (2004). Variability of step kinematics in young and older adults. Gait & Posture, 20(1), 26-35.