SHOULDER JOINT MOMENTS DURING WALKER USE IN CHILDREN WITH CEREBRAL PALSY

摘要

Upper extremity (UE) joint kinetics is a topic that is not thoroughly explored in the current literature. Biped UE joints are not anatomically designed to be weight bearing, therefore it is important to quantify the forces and moments applied to them during aided gait. This study has employed a custom dynamic model to examine the UE kinetics during walker use in children with cerebral palsy (CP). Five children with spastic diplegic CP using both anterior and posterior walkers are analyzed in this study. The flexion/extension moment at the shoulder (glenohumeral) joint are compared between walker types using a Wilcoxon signed rank test. No significant differences between anterior and posterior walker were found in the maximum, minimum, or range of the moments. Further research is needed to determine the effects of walking aids on UE dynamics.