Supplementary Materials: Disparities in Gait between Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis Patients and Healthy Matched Controls

Methods

Gait of 19 AIS patients indicated for brace treatment and matched controls were measured at the Computer Assisted Rehabilitation ENvironment (CAREN; Motekforce Link, Amsterdam, the Netherlands). Measurements were performed before brace treatment commenced and consisted of walking at comfortable speed without wearing a brace. Step length and step time variability were calculated as the coefficient of variation.

Spatiotemporal parameters and range of motion (ROM) in joint angles of the two groups were compared using independent t-test or Mann Whitney U test. Statistical parametric mapping (SPM) was used to compare kinematic waveforms for both groups using independent t-tests. Results: Compared to controls, AIS patients showed significantly increased variability in step time (Δ0.7%) and step length (Δ0.8%).

Additionally, AIS patients showed significantly decreased ROM in pelvic obliquity (p<0.001) and reduced internal pelvic rotation (p=0.001). Patients walked with significantly reduced hip flexion resulting in limited sagittal hip angle ROM (p<0.001). Moreover, patients had a decreased stance phase knee flexion.

AIS patients walked significantly slower (Δ0.4 m/s, p<0.001), with reduced cadence (Δ8.2 steps/min, p=0.008), and shorter stride length (Δ0.18 m, p<0.001). Significance: Compared to controls, patients with AIS walk significantly different in terms of gait variability, joint kinematics and spatiotemporal parameters. Further research is needed to determine the clinical relevance of these gait differences in AIS patients compared to healthy, matched controls.