3D Motion Analysis of Hip, Knee and Ankle Joints of Children Aged Between 7-11 Years During Gait

Objective: The purpose of this study is to constitute a normative walking kinematic database and to investigate the differences between 7-11 aged children and between the left and right sides of those age groups. Materials and Methods: Fifty children between the 7 and 11 years old (10 from each age group) participated in this study. The measurements were made with Zebris© CMS 70 P 3D motion analysis system. Flexion- extension, abduction-adduction angles of the hip joint, the flexion-extension of the knee and ankle joints and foot rotations for each age group for both sides were recorded. Results: Even all the groups’ gait patterns were similar with the literature, 9 years old group has lower knee flexion and higher ankle extensions (p 0.05). Eight and 9 years old groups have higher maximum ankle extension values when compared with the other age groups (p 0.05). Conclusion: Kinematic analysis results of 7 to 11 years old children suggests adult-like gait patterns especially for the hip and knee. These fi ndings stress the importance of age-matched normative data for the kinematic gait analysis.