Temporal-Spatial Gait Characteristics in Youths with Hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos

Hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (hEDS) is an inherited connective tissue disorder that is caused by defects in a protein called collagen. Symptoms include overly flexible joints that can dislocate, creating joint instability which leads to early-onset osteoarthritis. There is currently a lack of knowledge on the effect of these symptoms on the gait of youths with hEDS. This study aims to fill that gap by quantifying temporal-spatial parameters of gait in youths. Three participants, with a mean age of 13 years old, with hEDS, were recruited from the Genetics Center at Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin. The subjects underwent motion analysis using a 15 camera Vicon system and 14 retro-reflective markers following the Vicon lower-extremity Plug-in Gait model. The subjects walked for multiple trials at a self-selected, fast and slow pace along a 30-ft walkway. Data was labeled, filtered, and modeled using Vicon Nexus software. The temporal-spatial parameters, including stride length, cadence and walking speed were calculated for 8-11 gait cycles per subject for each task. The mean self-selected walking speed results for these parameters were 1.40±0.054 meters, 57.31±1.86 strides/minute and 1.34±0.081 meters/second. When compared to healthy gait the averages fell within normal ranges. Identification of differences between those with hEDS and healthy individuals may provide insight to the development of pain and injury increase over time, leading to higher risk for early-onset osteoarthritis. With this knowledge physical therapists may be able to work with hEDS patients to effectively decrease their risk of early-onset osteoarthritis. This study is a part of a larger ongoing project to define the biomedical phenotype in youths with hEDS to increase our understanding of the disease to improve diagnosis and treatment planning