Gait parameters in children with bilateral spastic cerebral palsy: a systematic review of randomized controlled trials

Abstract

To identify the gait parameters used to assess gait disorders in children with bilateral spastic cerebral palsy ( BSCP) and evaluate their responsiveness to treatments : A systematic search within Pubmed, Web of Science and Scopus ( English, 2000 - 2016) for randomized controlled trials of children with BSCP who were assessed by i nstrumented gait analysis ( IGA ) was done . Data r elated to participants and study characteristics, risk of bias and outcome measures w ere collected . A list of gait parameters responsive to clinical interventions was obtained. Results : Twenty - one articles met the inclusion criteria. Eighty - nine gait parameters were identified and fifty - six of them showed responsiveness to treatments . Spatiotemporal and kinematic parameters were widely used compared to kinetic and surface electromyography data . The majority of responsive gait parameters were joint angles at the sagittal plane (flexion - extension) . The IGA yields responsive outcome measure s for the gait assessment of children with BSCP . Spatiotemporal and kinematic parameters are the gait parameters used most frequently . Further research is needed to establish the relevant gait parameters for each clinical problem.