Do different walking patterns which are seen in children with cerebral palsy cause stiff knee gait in healthy people?

Abstract

Introduction: The maintenance of balance is an essential requirement for the performance of daily tasks and sporting activities and muscular fatigue is a factor to impair postural control [1], so this study was done to compare the effect of selected muscle groups fatigue on postural control during bipedal stance in healthy subjects. Patients/materials and methods: Fifteen healthy female students (24.3±2.6 years) completed three testing sessions with a break period of 2 days. During each session, postural control was assessed during two 30-s trials of bipedal stance [2] before and after the fatigue protocol. Fatigue protocols were performed by 60% of their maximum voluntary contraction [3] of ankle plantar flexors, lumbar extensors and neck extensors. Measurements of maximum voluntary contraction (MVC) and fatigue protocols were performed by using dynamometer (MIE, LTD, UK) and the force platform (Kistler Switzerland, type 9286 AA). Results: Mean center of pressure (COP) velocity was compared between pre and post fatigue across the three muscle groups. The result showed that fatigue had a significant effect on COP velocity and it can increase COP velocity but there was not any significant difference in postural control between fatigue of different muscle groups. Discussion and conclusions: Localized muscle fatigue caused deficits in postural control regardless of the location of muscle fatigue. Authors suggest the possibility of the contributions of central mechanisms to postural deficits due to muscle fatigue.