Researchers conducted a 20-year retrospective study examining if there were clinically significant changes in gross motor function with the use of AFOs in children and adolescents diagnosed with mild cerebral palsy (CP).
The initial query identified 546 potential patients, and based on inclusion criteria, 124 children with a diagnosis of spastic diplegic CP were included (Gross Motor Function Classification System GMFCS levels I and II). The subjects’ mean age was 8.8 ± 3.3 (range 4-18) years at the time of the study. All patients wore custom-made hinged or solid AFOs at the time of the gait study. Patients wearing ground-reaction AFOs and SMOs were excluded.
Based on the data, 77 percent of the subjects demonstrated an increase in stride length, 45 percent demonstrated an increase in walking velocity, and 30 percent demonstrated a decrease in cadence. Additionally, 27 percent of the subjects demonstrated an increase in the gait deviation index, the authors concluded.
Deterioration in gait was evident by decreases in walking speed (5 percent of subjects), increases in cadence (11 percent of subjects), and 15 percent of subjects demonstrated decreases in the gait deviation index. Twenty-two percent of subjects demonstrated no change in stride lengths and one participant demonstrated a decrease in stride length.
The AFOs improved Gross Motor Function Measure (GMFM) scores for ten percent of the children, with 82-85 percent of subjects demonstrating no change in GMFM scores and five to seven percent demonstrating a decrease in the scores.
The open-access study, “AFOs improve stride length and gait velocity but not motor function for most with mild cerebral palsy,” was published in the journal Sensors.
