Correlation between the Gait Deviation Index and skeletal muscle mass in children with spastic cerebral palsy.
Naomichi Matsunaga, Tadashi Ito, Koji Noritake and 5 others
PMID 30214121WHAT IT FOUND
In ambulatory children with spastic cerebral palsy, worse Gait Deviation Index scores were linked to lower limb muscle mass index and slower chair stand time.
Grip strength and upper limb muscle mass index were not linked.
Key findings
01Moderate associations were found between Gait Deviation Index and chair stand time, and between Gait Deviation Index and lower limb skeletal muscle mass index; no associations were found with grip strength or upper limb skeletal muscle mass index.
02After adjusting for gender and GMFCS level, chair stand time and lower limb skeletal muscle mass index remained independently associated with Gait Deviation Index.
03The average Gait Deviation Index was 77.3, which the paper describes as more than 2 SD below normal gait.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
Read the rest of this summary
You get three full summaries a month, free, and we do not ask for a card. Search, the TL;DRs and your library stay unlimited either way.
What it does not show
Only 28 children were studied, and all were at GMFCS level I or II, so the findings may not apply to children who need more walking support or cannot walk. The study measured associations at the time of gait analysis, so it cannot show that lower limb muscle mass or chair stand performance cause poorer gait. Gait Deviation Index was averaged across the left and right sides rather than analysed separately for each leg. Muscle activity and spasm were not measured, so spasm may have influenced the relationship between lower limb muscle mass and gait. The sample came from children who had clinically indicated three-dimensional gait analysis, which may not represent all ambulatory children with spastic cerebral palsy.
Declared interests
The authors reported no financial disclosures or conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that increasing lower limb muscle mass or improving chair stand time will improve gait. This study only found associations in children at GMFCS level I or II and did not test whether changing those measures changes gait.