Influence of upper extremity motor task and cognitive task on gait velocity and stride length in normal children aged between 7-13 years - a descriptive observational study

Background: Walking is the basic functional activity of daily living. Most of the functional activities involve dual or multi task constraints, performing more than one activity at a time. While performing two or more activities simultaneously a person may not perform well, as one has to distribute his/her attention in both the activities. Such activities are considered to be difficult and challenging which in turn increase the safety risk. Children often need to perform cognitive and motor task simultaneously while walking. Therefore, the study was aimed to observe the influence of upper extremity motor task and cognitive task on gait velocity and stride length in normal children 7-13 years of age. Methods: As per the selection criteria, 84 normal children aged between 7-13 years were included. They were asked to walk on Hi-Tech 3D motion and gait analyzer to perform the walking tasks - simple walking task; walking with upper extremity motor task (carrying a tray consisting of seven tennis balls) and walking with cognitive task (walking while backward counting from 100). Gait velocity and stride length were recorded and compared between all the three tasks. Results: Gait velocity and stride length were found reduced while walking with motor task and cognitive task as compared to simple walking task. While walking with motor task, both the gait parameters were found reduced as compared to walking with cognitive task. Conclusions: The study noticed extra concentration of children while walking with tray in hands as compared to the walking while backward counting.