Research Information System
16TH EUROPEAN BOBATH TUTORS ASSOCIATION – EBTA CONGRESS ISTANBUL 2024 , İstanbul, Turkey, 19 - 21 September 2024, pp.14, (Summary Text)
Purpose: Children with cerebral palsy (CP) often have difficulty walking due to various factors. This review aims to identify and measure the specific walking differences between children with unilateral CP (UCP) and typically developing children (TDC). Methods: This study used a rigorous methodology, searching eight electronic databases (from their inception to October 24, 2023) and evaluating the methodological quality of included studies. Calculations were performed using different models based on the statistical heterogeneity, and meta-regression analyses were conducted to investigate potential moderators. Results: A total of 26 studies involving 937 participants (347 with UCP and 590 with healthy control) met the inclusion criteria. The number of studies included in the meta-analysis differed according to the gait parameters. The included studies exhibited medium or high methodological quality. There were significant differences in walking speed, stride/step length, and step width of gait parameters between UCP and TDC (p<0.05). The self-selected walking speed was 0.145 ms1 , walking speed in the dual-task condition was 0.167 ms-1, stride/step length were 0.102/0.109 m lower in UCP compared to healthy peers. Additionally, the step width was 0.033 m higher in UCP compared to TDC. Conclusions: CP affected walking speed, stride/step length, and step width of spatiotemporal gait parameters in unilateral cases. Determining these gait parameters will help to identify which intervention elements are critical for positive changes in individuals with UCP. Keywords: Gait, Cerebral palsy, Meta-analysis, Spatio-temporal analysis