GAIT AND FUNCTION

•LESSON PLAN NUMBER :

•NAME OF PRESENTER: SAUDA
•TARGET GROUP : MPT
•NUMBER OF STUDENTS : 36
•DURATION :2 HOURS
•DATE : 28/11/2023
•TIME :8:45-10:45
Sl NO CONTENTS
1 GAIT
2 DEVEOLPMENT OF GAIT
3 GAIT CYCLE
4 DETERMINANTS OF GAIT
What is gait?

• Gait is defined as a translatory progression of the body,

produced by coordinated, rotatory movements of body
segments.
Major tasks of gait:
Winter proposed the following five main tasks for walking
Gait,

• Maintenance of support of the head, arms, and trunks,

that is, preventing collapse of the lower limb.
• Maintenance of upright posture and balance of the body.
• Control of the foot trajectory to achieve safe ground
clearance and a gentle heel or toe landing .
• Generation of mechanical energy to maintain the present
forward velocity or to increase the forward velocity.
• Absorption of mechanical energy for shock absorption
and stability or to decrease the forward velocity of the
body.
 DEVELOPMENT OF GAIT:
• The pattern of activity of newborn mammals are appropriate to the
environment into which they are born.
• In this respect mammals can be divided into four classes:
* Herd animals
* Nest animals
* Mother-clinging animals
* Marsupials
• Man, clearly a mother clinging animal in an evolutionary context,
has become a sort of nest animal.
• The reasons for the usual 12-month interval between birth and
independent walking and additional two years required for
maturation of gait, is a combination of slower development of
motor system in humans and also the need for learning.
• The process of maturation which leads to walking is complex.
• Learning, emergence of cortical control, sensory integration, and
myelination are taking place simultaneously.
• Cortical control and sensory integration occur because the
necessary pathway become myelinated and functional.
DEVELOPMENT OF GAIT
•GAIT is defined as “upright locomotion in a particular manner of moving
on foot which may be an walk ,jog or run.

When Does Gait Development Start?

•The initiation of independent gait is generally considered to be around 12
months of age.
When categorized the development of gait can be placed into 6
stages:
1. Infant stepping
2. Inactive period
3. Supported locomotion
4. Unsupported locomotion
5. Mature similar gait
6. Mature gait.
1. INFANT STEPPING
•At birth stepping reflex is observed ( primitive reflex).
•This reflex persists until 2-3 months of age, disappears and then re-emerges
close to the onset of autonomous walking.
 2. INACTIVE PERIOD

•With the start of autonomous walking, there is flat-footed stepping, with the
emergence of heel strike around 18 months.
•There is no arm swing, rather upper limbs are kept in a 'high guard' position.
• Persistent knee flexion, along with hip abduction and external rotation is also
observed.
• There is also short steps, a rapid cadence and generally a large degree of
pelvic rotation.
 3.SUPPORTED LOCOMOTION

•Within 3 months of independent walking a child will most likely walk

with feet set in parallel lines.
•Balance also being controlled and with a definite step present.
4. UNSUPPORTED LOCOMOTION

•By the age of 2, a child will demonstrate heel strike and reciprocal arm
swing.
•Along with less hip abduction and external rotation.
•Single leg stance phase is still decreased when compared to a mature gait
and the ankles may not move from dorsiflexion to plantar flexion until 50%
of the gait cycle. This may be indicative of poor eccentric control.
4. MATURE SIMILAR GAIT

Generally by age 3, a mature gait is present. There are however gait dynamics
such as stride-to-stride variability which is seen to change in ages up and
beyond 7 years of age, which indicate that even in later childhood years, gait
continues to evolve and mature.
 5.MATURE GAIT

•Children between 7 and 8 years old are able to achieve independent control
of each anatomical segment with walking, and thus maintain a stable posture
during gait compared to children between 3 and 6 years old.

•The reduction in gait speed variability as children age could be due to

improvements in balance control and posture. It is seen that gait development
progresses until the age of 8.
•It should be noted that different features of stride dynamics develop at
different times, hence no two features develop at the same time and
there are differences between children of the same age
GAIT TERMINOLOGY

 Base of support
 Step length
 Stride length
 Gait cycle
 Cadence
 Walking velocity
 Double limb support
 Single limb support
 Stride width
 Degree of toe-out
Base of support:

Distance between a person’s feet while

standing or during ambulation.
Provides balance and stability to maintain
erect posture.
Normally 2-4 inches from heel to heel.
GAIT CYCLE

• Period of time from one heel strike to next heel strike of the same limb.
• Gait cycle consist of two units- passenger unit and locomotor unit
PHASES OF GAIT CYCLE

• Stance phase: 60% of the gait cycle

• Swing phase:40% of the gait cycle
 Stance phase:
Is the phase where anyone component of the
reference extremity is in contact with the ground.

• Heel strike
• Foot flat
• Midstance
• Heel off
• Toe off
 Heel strike
• Beginning of stance phase when heel contacts the
ground.
• Begins with initial contact and ends with foot flat
 Foot flat
• It occurs immediately following heel strike.
• It is the point at which the foot fully contacts
the floor.
 Mid stance
• Is the point at which the body passes directly over the
supporting extremity.
 Heel off
• The point following midstance the heel of the reference
extremity leaves the ground.
 Toe off
• The point following heel off when only the
toe of the reference extremity is in contact
with the ground.
 Swing phase:
Is a phase where none of the component of the
reference extremity is in contact with the floor.

• Acceleration
• Mid swing
• Deceleration
Acceleration
• Begins once the toe leaves the ground and continues
until midswing, or the point at which the swinging
extremity is directly under the body.
Mid swing
• Occurs approximately when the extremity passes
directly beneath the body, or from the end of
acceleration to the beginning of deceleration.
Deceleration
• Occurs after midswing when the limb is decelerating in
preparation for heel strike.
 Step length:

• Linear distance along the line of

progression of one foot travelled during one
gait cycle.
• Approximately 15 inches.
 Stride length:

• Linear distance in the plane of progression

between successive point of foot to floor contact
of the same foot.
• Normally 27-32 inches.
 Cadence :

• It is measured as the number of steps/ sec or per

minute.
• Approximately 70 steps per minute
 Double limb support:

• During normal gait, for a moment, two lower extremities

are in simultaneous contact with the ground.
• During this period, both legs support the body weight.
• Happens between push off and toe off on same side and
heel strike and foot flat on the contra lateral side.
 Single limb support:
 Walking velocity:
Is the rate of linear forward motion of the body, which can be
measured in meters per second, meter per minute, or miles per
hour.
walking velocity(meter/second)= distance
walked(meters)/ time (seconds)
Walking and running

• Walking: always a double support phase no flight phase

• Running: no double support phase, always flight phase.
 Step width:

Or width of walking base, may be found by measuring the linear

distance between the midpoint of the heel of one foot and the same
point on the other foot.
• Step width has been found to increase when there is an increased
demand for side-to-side stability, such as occurs in elderly persons
and in small children.
 Degree of toe-out:

Represents the angle of foot placement (FP) and maybe found by

measuring the angle formed by each foot’s line of progression and a
line intersecting the centre of the heel and the second toe.
• The angle for men normally is about 7 degree from the line of
progression of each foot at free speed walking.
• The degree of toe-out decreases as the speed of walking increases
in normal men,
HIP: STANCE PHASE
KNEE: STANCE PHASE
ANKLE & FOOT: STANCE PHASE
HIP: SWING PHASE
KNEE: SWING PHASE
ANKLE & FOOT: SWING PHASE
 REFERENCES:

• PAMELA K. LEVANGIE, CYNTHIA C. NORKIN , JOINT

STRUCTURE AND FUNCTION FIFTH EDITION: A
COMPREHENSIVE ANALYSIS.
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