Walking Dynamics in Preadolescents With and Without Down Syndrome

Jianhua Wu; Matthew Beerse; Toyin Ajisafe; Huaqing Liang

doi:10.2522/ptj.20140210

Figures

Figure 1.

Flow diagram of participant progress in this study. DS=Down syndrome, TD=typical development.

Figure 2.

Mean and standard deviation of the K/G ratio for: (A) overground walking and (B) treadmill walking. DS=Down syndrome, TD=typical development, NS=normal speed, FS=fast speed, NL=no load, AL=ankle load. * Significant difference between the DS and TD groups at P<.05. ^§ Significant difference between the NL and AL conditions at a given speed condition within a group at P<.05.

Figure 3.

Comparisons of mean and standard deviation of the K/G ratio between overground walking (OG) and treadmill walking (TM): (A) OG at normal speed (NS) vs TM at NS and (B) OG at NS vs TM at fast speed (FS). NL=no load, AL=ankle load. * Difference between the OG and TM conditions within a group for a given load condition at P<.05.

Tables

Table 1.

Mean (SD) of the Physical Characteristics of the Participants at Laboratory Visits 1 (Overground Walking) and 2 (Treadmill Walking)^a

↵^a Body mass index (BMI) was calculated as the ratio between weight (in kilograms) and height (in square meters). Ankle load was equal to 2% of body mass on each side. DS=Down syndrome, TD=typical development, M=male, F=female.
^b The DS group was significantly different from the TD group at P<.05.

Table 2.

Mean (SD) of Spatiotemporal Gait Parameters During Overground and Treadmill Walking^a

↵^a The same walking speed was used between the no load and ankle load conditions at each treadmill speed condition in each group. DS=Down syndrome, TD=typical development.