COMPARISON OF GAIT PATTERNS BETWEEN HEALTHY AND SCOLIOTIC PATIENTS USING TIME AND FREQUENCY-DOMAIN ANALYSIS OF GROUND REACTION FORCES

Study Design. The walking gait in 20 healthy adolescent girls and 20 a dolescent girls with idiopathic scoliosis was compared using time and frequency domain analysis of the ground reaction forces. Objectives. T o investigate the support phase mechanics of walking gait in health su bjects and those with scoliosis. Summary of Background Data. Previous studies have demonstrated the important role of gait in the etiology o f scoliosis, although, to date, there are no detailed reports that exa mine kinetic gait parameters. Methods. Selected force-time parameters were used to investigate time domain patterns. The frequency content o f the vertical, anterior-posterior, and medial-lateral components was used to examine frequency characteristics. Inter- and intrasubject var iability and bilateral symmetry also were examined. Results. The findi ngs indicated no significant differences between the two groups for th e time domain variables. However, the frequency content of the group w ith scoliosis was significantly higher than that of the control group, especially in the medial-lateral component, suggesting presence of a balance control misfunction. In addition, substantially higher inter- and intrasubject variability and asymmetry was found within the freque ncy content of the group with scoliosis compared with the control grou p in the medial-lateral and anterior-posterior directions. Conclusions . Patients with scoliosis exhibit balance problems during the stance p hase of gait and have significant asymmetry in the frequency character istics. These findings could be a primary effect that contributes to t he medial-lateral deformity of the spine and its initiation and progre ssion.