Foot rotation asymmetry in Down syndrome and the relationship with crawling and walking onset: a cross sectional study

Abstract

Introduction: Down syndrome individuals have different gait patterns, which include specific characteristics such as foot rotation asymmetry. Objective: The aim of this study was to analyze the relationship between this asymmetry and the previous acquisition of hands-and-knees crawling in Down syndrome children, as well as the probable association of this gait to gender, ethnicity, comorbidities, physiotherapy, and occupational therapy interventions. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 361 children with or without foot rotation asymmetry were selected. An online questionnaire was administered to the parents or guardians of those children. Results: Hands-and-knees crawling decreased the prevalence of foot rotation asymmetry in Down syndrome children. The longer it took for walking onset, the higher the prevalence of this asymmetry. Indeed, for each month of delay there was a 7% increase in prevalence. There was a significant relationship between orthopedic alterations in knees or flat feet and foot rotation asymmetry. There was no significance related to gender, ethnicity, other comorbidities, physiotherapy or occupational therapy interventions. Conclusion: The findings in this study revealed that foot rotation asymmetry may be related to the acquisition of the motor skills described above, especially with regards to hands-and-knees crawling and walking onset.

A Study on the Intersection of Ground Reaction Forces during Overground Walking in Down Syndrome: Effects of the Pathology and Left–Right Asymmetry

“…This issue might have also masked potential differences among groups, which were not observed, contrarily to our initial hypotheses. Based on the current observations, it is not possible to conclude that individuals with DS display a lateral inconsistency between the right and left VPP positions, despite the previously reported unevenness in the peak plantar flexion moments of the right and left limbs, which is a characteristic of the pathological condition [25,26]. What we observed was, however, significant interindividual variability, indicated by large standard deviations and almost doubled asymmetry in the anterior-posterior VPP coordinate compared to the vertical VPP coordinate.…”

“…In DS, the foot-ground interaction is often impacted by a widespread atypical flat foot condition, impacting the shape of GRFs. Additionally, muscle weakness results in reduced peak plantar flexion in the propulsive phase [9,24], and this might manifest unevenly on the right and left lower limbs due to typical foot rotation asymmetry [25,26]. Additionally, this reduced peak plantar flexion leads to a lower second peak in the horizontal (x) and vertical (y) GRFs [27,28].…”

Differences in augmented reality games performance between individuals with Down syndrome and individuals with typical development

“…In the study by Herrero et al 32 , the reaction time performance was investigated in participants of two groups, autism spectrum disorder, and typical development, after a virtual reality task (coincident time task) the results showed that the training had a positive influence on the reaction time of both groups, being typical development of greater expression.…”

The effect of negationism on public health

“…In this line, Journal of Human Growth and Development brings articles [12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28] that contribute to the development of science, full knowledge of public health and evidence in the scientific field to corroborate scientific practice and its full application in modern society.…”