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Similar Spatiotemporal Parameters of Gait between Children with Typical Development and Autism Spectrum Disorder
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1  Biomechanics Laboratory, University of the Peloponnese, Physiotherapy Department, Sparta, Greece
Academic Editor: Franz Konstantin Fuss

Abstract:

Introduction: Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a common, inherited, heterogeneous, and lifelong neurodevelopmental disorder with underlying cognitive features that coexists with other conditions (1, 2). Walking is a fundamental human activity that is fully related to motor control. The identification of gait disorders may allow for early diagnosis and better treatment planning. The present study aims to systematically analyze and evaluate the spatiotemporal gait parameters in children with ASD and Typical Development (TD), correlate the results, and possibly identify motor patterns outside of physiological limits. Methods: A total of 12 children were divided into a TD group (5 males, 1 female; mean age: 4.3 years) and an ASD group (5 males, 1 female; mean age: 5 years). A motion capture system with six Vicon MCam optoelectronic cameras (Oxford Metrics Group Ltd.) and two Bertec force plates was used for gait analysis. The statistical software IBM SPSS Statistics 29 was used to conduct the analysis. Results and Discussion: No statistically significant differences were observed regarding the normalized values of the examined spatiotemporal parameters: gait velocity, stance time, gait cycle time, step length, step time, double support time, or step width. The findings of our study revealed that children with ASD had an increased gait velocity and a slight decrease in stance time, which aligns with the existing literature. Gait cycle time, step time, double support time, swing time, and step length and width reveal no significant differences between ASD and TD, which coincides with the findings from previous studies (3-6). Conversely, other studies have identified notable differences in spatiotemporal characteristics (7-9). Conclusions: These contradictory results explain the heterogeneity of the gait parameters observed in patients with ASD. Further research should be conducted in a non-laboratory setting, utilizing inertial measurement devices in conjunction with electromyographic data to thoroughly evaluate ASD gait patterns (10,11).

Keywords: gait biomechanics, gait analysis, Autism Spectrum Disorder, spatiotemporal parameters, kinematic gait pattern
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