The effect of community-prescribed ankle–foot orthoses on gait parameters in children with spastic cerebral palsy (original) (raw)

Purpose To evaluate the efficacy of ankle foot orthoses (AFOs) prescribed in the community for children with cerebral palsy (CP). Methods Fifty-six children (32 boys and 24 girls, mean age 8.9 years, range 4–17) who were diagnosed as having CP were enrolled. They were grouped according to the type of CP, diplegic ( n = 38) and hemiplegic ( n = 18). Three-dimensional gait analyses while patient were barefoot and with AFOs were obtained and analyzed. Results The spatio-temporal findings were the most significantly changed as a result of AFO use. In the hemiplegic group, stride length was 11.7% ( p = 0.001) longer with AFOs in both affected (10.2%) and non-affected (12.4%) legs, and cadence was reduced by 9.7%; walking speed was not affected. In the diplegic group, stride length with AFOs was 17.4% longer compared to barefoot ( p < 0.001) and walking velocity improved by 17.8% ( p < 0.001); cadence was unchanged. AFOs also increased ankle dorsiflexion at initial contact in both g...