Aquatic Treadmill Walking Lowers Pelvic Motion Irregularity in Typically Developing and Children with Cerebral Palsy.

Objective: Evaluate the impact of aquatic treadmill walking on the pelvic dynamics of children with cerebral palsy (CP).

Design: The study is a block-randomized cross-over design with 8 children with CP and 15 typically developing (TD) children. All participants walked at fast, normal, and slow speeds on an aquatic (WET) treadmill and conventional (DRY) treadmill. Inertial measurement units recorded the participants' pelvic angles in the mediolateral, anteroposterior, and axial angles from which sample entropy values were determined.

Results: A multilevel model showed decreased irregularity in the pelvic dynamics of both CP and TD groups in WET conditions compared to DRY and at slower compared to higher speeds in the mediolateral and axial planes. For the anteroposterior plane, the irregularity of the pelvic motion decreased at the slow speed-WET condition compared to the fast trial.

Conclusion: The study shows the potential of the aquatic treadmill environment to induce more typical postural dynamics for children with CP compared to conventional dry treadmills. Postural dynamics also had decreased irregularity at slower walking speeds. A longitudinal study would show the retention tendencies of observed impacts on children with CP.