P.10.5 The effect of the limitation of ankle joint’s movement on the walking performance in neuromuscular diseases

The Effect of Ankle Limitation on Dynamic Balance and Functional Capacity in Children With Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy

“…Studies examining the relationship between ankle limitation and functional capacity in children with DMD are limited. Kaya (Kaya et al, 2014) and Akkurt (Akkurt, Gürbüz, Karaduman, & Yilmaz, 2019) used 6MWT to study the relationship between ankle limitation and walking function in children with DMD. Both studies reported significant relationships between ankle limitation and 6MWT.…”

“…The ankle limitations of the children with DMD were calculated by subtracting from the passively measured ankle ROM degree from the optimal ROM that should be. Ankle limitations in children were recorded for both feet, right and left (Bach & Lieberman, 1993;Kaya et al, 2014). For each participant, the mean of left and right ankle limitation was calculated and used in the statistical analysis.…”

“…Secondly, since only the passive (but not active) ankle limitation of the children was measured, the effects of active and passive limitation could not be studied separately. The reason for this is that active range of motion cannot always be completed in children with DMD due to muscle (Bach & Lieberman, 1993;Kaya et al, 2014). Third; Age (McDonald et al, 2010), functional level (Alkan et al, 2017), muscle strength (Kaya et al, 2015) known to be associated with functional tests in children with DMD could not be included in the regression model due to the small number of samples.…”

“…Similar to other neuromuscular diseases, in DMD, ankle joint limitation together with muscle weakness disturbs balance and leads to stumbling and falling (Kaya et al, 2014).…”

“…Furthermore, decreased safety of ambulation leads to a decrease in the activity levels of the patients causing social isolation; it also brings along undesirable effects on bone mineral density, physical fitness, and cardiorespiratory functions (Kaya et al, 2014). To the best of our knowledge, there is no study in the literature investigating the effect of ankle limitation on dynamic balance in children with DMD; and there is only a limited number of studies investigating its' effect on functional capacity.…”