Total Body Mass Centroid and Segmental Mass Centroid Locations Found in Down’s Syndrome Individuals

Abstract

This study was undertaken to investigate the total body and segmental centers of mass of individuals with Down’s syndrome. The 40 subjects were divided equally by gender into the following age groups: (a) ages 6 to 10, (b) ages 11 to 18, (c) adult females, and (d) adult males. Data on mass centroid locations were collected through a photogrammetric technique. Frontal and right sagittal-view slide photographs on each subject were digitized and the data logged into a computer program. The program calculated the segmental mass centroid locations and total body center of mass. Differences in total body and segmental center of mass locations were found between individuals with Down’s syndrome (DS) and nonhandicapped individuals. Analysis of the data on the DS children indicated that the mean center of mass location for the total body was within the range reported for nonhandicapped children. The adult DS male and female subjects were found to have a lower total body center of mass when compared to existing data on nonhandicapped adults. It was also found that the segmental mass centroid locations for the head and trunk segment of DS subjects were consistently lower than those found in nonhandicapped individuals. This finding points to an overall lowering of the center of mass found with DS subjects.