Relationship between lower extremity selective motor control and backwalking in children with spastic hemiplegic cerebral palsy

This study was planned to compare the lower extremity selective motor control, backward walking and femoral anteversion angle of children diagnosed with hemiplegic Cerebral Palsy with typically developing children and to determine the relationship between lower extremity selective motor control, backward walking and femoral anteversion angle in children diagnosed with hemiplegic Cerebral Palsy. The study included 20 children with hemiplegic Cerebral Palsy aged 10-18 years, level I-II according to the Gross Motor Function Classification System, lower extremity muscle tone ≤2 according to the Modified Ashworth Scale, level I-III according to the Communication Function Classification System, mean age 13.75±2.97 years, and 20 children with typical development, mean age 13.70±2.92 years. Lower extremity selective motor control was evaluated with the Lower Extremity Selective Control Assessment Scale, backward walking performance was evaluated with the 3-Meter Backwalk Test, gross motor function was evaluated with the Gross Motor Function Measurement-66, and femoral anteversion was evaluated with the Craig Test. A significant difference was found when lower extremity selective motor control, backward walking performance and femoral anteversion angle of children diagnosed with hemiplegic Cerebral Palsy and typically developing children were compared (p<0.05). In children diagnosed with hemiplegic Cerebral Palsy, there was a negative correlation between selective control of lower extremity and backward walking (p<0.05), a positive correlation between selective control of lower extremity and gross motor function (p<0.01), and a negative correlation between backward walking and gross motor function (p<0.01). There was no significant relationship between femoral anteversion angle and lower extremity selective control and backward walking in children diagnosed with hemiplegic Cerebral Palsy (p>0.05). As a result of this study, it was found that children diagnosed with hemiplegic Cerebral Palsy had decreased backward walking performance as selective motor control of the lower extremities decreased. Additionally, it was determined that high femoral anteversion angle did not affect lower extremity selective motor control and backward walking performance in children diagnosed with hemiplegic Cerebral Palsy. Establishing a rehabilitation program by evaluating lower extremity selective motor control and backward walking in children diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy who can walk independently will provide improvement in gross motor functions. KEY WORDS: Backward walking, Hemiplegic Cerebral Palsy, Lower extremity, Selective motor control