Effects of treadmill training with and without weighted ankle cuffs on gait parameters in children with down’s syndrome

Abstract

Background: The disorder known as Down syndrome is characterized by the presence of an additional chromosome in certain individuals. Within the human body, chromosomes are like little "packages" of genes. It is possible to have Down syndrome (DS), which is often referred to as trisomy 21, if a third copy of chromosome 21 is present, either in its whole or in part.

Objective: To compare the effects of treadmill training with and without weighted ankle cuffs on gait parameters in children with Down’s syndrome.

Material & Method: Recent clinical trial was randomized. Ethical committee authorized research. After informed permission, patients were enrolled in the research based on inclusion criteria. Simple random sampling yielded 25 samples each category. Everyone was split into two groups. A group underwent treadmill training with weighted ankle cuffs, whereas the other received merely treadmill training. Both groups received conventional therapy—strengthening, and trunk training. The workout had 10 reps/session. Treadmill training for infants (with the help of attendant) lasted for 6 minutes, 4 days a week at 0.18m/sec. After informed consent, gait assessment rating scale and Berg balance scale were used to determine balance and gait characteristics. We gathered data before and after 6 weeks of therapy. Treatment lasted 6 weeks, 1 hour every day, 4 days a week. Comparing improvement before and after 4 weeks was done in SPSS 26.0.

Result: The findings indicated no significant difference between groups (p > 0.05). Rejecting the null hypothesis. Treadmill training with ankle cuff improved gait parameters in children with Down's syndrome more than treadmill training alone (Group B).

Conclusion: The study found that treadmill training with weighted ankle cuffs offers more clinical benefits than treadmill training without cuffs in improving gait parameters like cadence, cycle duration, and swing time. Additionally, treadmill inclination positively affects hip, knee, and ankle angles, suggesting potential advantages for gait rehabilitation in this group using treadmills.