TY - JOUR
T1 - Energy cost of gait in children and the effect of speed, age, and body size
AU - Gagnat, Yngvild
AU - Oudenhoven, Laura M.
AU - Brændvik, Siri Merete
AU - Bardal, Ellen Marie
AU - Roeleveld, Karin
N1 - Funding Information:
This study was funded by the Regional Health Authorities in Norway, the Liaison Committee between the Central Norway Regional Health Authority (RHA), the Joint Research Committee between St.Olavs Hospital and the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU). The data collection was performed with equipment from the NeXtMove core facility, NTNU. The authors would like to acknowledge Annet Dallmeijer for the project idea and Line Fjørstad, Sondre Smeby, Tone Sommerset and Åsmund Holmås for their contribution in data collection. The authors are grateful to the children participating in the study.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 The Authors
PY - 2022/10/1
Y1 - 2022/10/1
N2 - Background: Energy cost (EC) of comfortable walking is often used in clinical evaluation of children with altered gait function. EC is presented as energy expenditure per kg bodyweight per meter, either in total (grossEC) or in addition to resting energy expenditure (netEC). GrossEC is considered more reliable and netEC less affected by between-subject variations in speed, age, and body size. However, the effect of the individual child's speed on EC is rarely considered, while altered gait function may affect both speed and EC. Research question: To what extent are grossEC and netEC affected by within-subject variation in speed and between-subject variations in speed, age, and body size? Methods: Forty-two typically developing children (7–15 y) were included in this cross-sectional study. Age, height, and bodyweight were obtained. Breath-to-breath gas-exchange measures of VO2 and VCO2 were conducted during rest and five over-ground gait conditions: walking at slow, comfortable, and fast speed, jogging and running. All conditions lasted 3–5 min. Body surface area, non-dimensional speed, grossEC, and netEC were calculated. Regression analyses and mixed model analyses were conducted to explain the effect of speed, age, and body size on variations in EC. Results: GrossEC showed a non-significant, concave up relation to within-subject variation in speed, with a minimum around comfortable/fast walking speed. NetEC had a strong positive linear relation to within-subject variation in speed. For each gait condition, grossEC was more affected by between-subject variations in speed, age, and body size compared to netEC. However, the effect of age and body size was not eliminated for netEC but was quadratic. Significance: Although normalised to speed and bodyweight, grossEC and netEC are still affected by those factors. However, they are affected differently for within- and between-subject variations. This must be considered when interpreting EC in children in relation to gait function.
AB - Background: Energy cost (EC) of comfortable walking is often used in clinical evaluation of children with altered gait function. EC is presented as energy expenditure per kg bodyweight per meter, either in total (grossEC) or in addition to resting energy expenditure (netEC). GrossEC is considered more reliable and netEC less affected by between-subject variations in speed, age, and body size. However, the effect of the individual child's speed on EC is rarely considered, while altered gait function may affect both speed and EC. Research question: To what extent are grossEC and netEC affected by within-subject variation in speed and between-subject variations in speed, age, and body size? Methods: Forty-two typically developing children (7–15 y) were included in this cross-sectional study. Age, height, and bodyweight were obtained. Breath-to-breath gas-exchange measures of VO2 and VCO2 were conducted during rest and five over-ground gait conditions: walking at slow, comfortable, and fast speed, jogging and running. All conditions lasted 3–5 min. Body surface area, non-dimensional speed, grossEC, and netEC were calculated. Regression analyses and mixed model analyses were conducted to explain the effect of speed, age, and body size on variations in EC. Results: GrossEC showed a non-significant, concave up relation to within-subject variation in speed, with a minimum around comfortable/fast walking speed. NetEC had a strong positive linear relation to within-subject variation in speed. For each gait condition, grossEC was more affected by between-subject variations in speed, age, and body size compared to netEC. However, the effect of age and body size was not eliminated for netEC but was quadratic. Significance: Although normalised to speed and bodyweight, grossEC and netEC are still affected by those factors. However, they are affected differently for within- and between-subject variations. This must be considered when interpreting EC in children in relation to gait function.
KW - Body size
KW - Children
KW - Energy cost of walking
KW - Energy expenditure
KW - Normalisation
KW - Speed
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85138077702
U2 - 10.1016/j.gaitpost.2022.09.005
DO - 10.1016/j.gaitpost.2022.09.005
M3 - Article
C2 - 36126534
SN - 0966-6362
VL - 98
SP - 146
EP - 152
JO - Gait and Posture
JF - Gait and Posture
ER -