Abstract
Aim: To investigate whether more prominent signs of muscle fatigue occur during self-paced walking in children with cerebral palsy (CP) compared to typically developing peers. Method: In this case–control study, 13 children with CP (four males, nine females; mean age [SD] 11y 4mo [3y 8mo]; nine in Gross Motor Function Classification System [GMFCS] level I, three in GMFCS level II, and one in GMFCS level III) and 14 typically developing peers (nine males, five females; mean age [SD] 9y 10mo [1y 10mo]) walked 5 minutes overground at a self-selected walking speed. Electromyography (EMG) median frequency and root mean square (RMS) were identified per gait cycle from EMG recordings of the tibialis anterior, gastrocnemius medialis, soleus, rectus femoris, and semitendinosus. Rate of change in those variables was analysed using mixed linear model analyses. Results: The decrease in EMG median frequency of gastrocnemius medialis and soleus and increase in EMG-RMS of tibialis anterior, gastrocnemius medialis, and soleus were significantly larger in the most affected leg of children with CP compared with typically developing peers. Interpretation: Increased selective muscle fatigue of the lower leg muscles was observed during self-paced walking in children with mild-to-moderate severe CP. This could contribute to and account for limited walking capacity. What this paper adds: Children with cerebral palsy (CP) show more signs of lower leg muscle fatigue than typically developing peers. No signs of muscle fatigue were observed in upper leg muscles of children with CP.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 212-218 |
| Number of pages | 7 |
| Journal | Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology |
| Volume | 61 |
| Issue number | 2 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Feb 2019 |
Funding
The authors are grateful to the children and their parents who participated in this study. In addition, the authors would like to acknowledge Ane Øvreness, Astrid Ustad, Ingvild Koren Maalen-Johansen, Tobias Goihl, and Ragnhild Sunde for their help with data collection. The study was funded by Regional Health Authorities in Norway, the Liaison Committee between the Central Norway Regional Health Authority (RHA), and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU). Maaike Eken was awarded the Ter Meulen travel grant from Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk onderzoek (NWO) to conduct the research described in this study. The data collection equipment was provided by NeXt Move, NTNU. NeXt Move is funded by the Faculty of Medicine and Health at NTNU and the Central Norway Regional Health Authority. The funding sources had no other roles than financial support. The authors have stated that they had no interests which might be perceived as posing a conflict or bias. to acknowledge Ane Øvreness, Astrid Ustad, Ingvild Koren Maalen-Johansen, Tobias Goihl, and Ragnhild Sunde for their help with data collection. The study was funded by Regional Health Authorities in Norway, the Liaison Committee between the Central Norway Regional Health Authority (RHA), and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU). Maaike Eken was awarded the Ter Meulen travel grant from Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk onderzoek (NWO) to conduct the research described in this study. The data collection equipment was provided by NeXt Move,
| Funders | Funder number |
|---|---|
| NeXt Move | |
| Regional Health Authorities in Norway | |
| Respiratory Health Association | |
| Norges Teknisk-Naturvitenskapelige Universitet | |
| Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek | |
| Helse Midt-Norge | |
| Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney |