Desenvolvimento longitudinal do andar para frente e para trás: Impacto da restrição ambiental

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate, through longitudinal observations, the onset and development of forward and backward walking in their temporal organization and the impact of environmental constraints. The second purpose was to verify the impact of environmental constraint caused by floor and padded surfaces on temporal parameters of infant gait. Seven infants began their participation in the study when they were able to walk with support, until they were able to walk forward independently. They were videotaped while walking forward and backward on a hard and soft padded surfaces. Their temporal organization was analyzed through intra-limb relative phase, duration of the walking cycle and duration of phases within the walking cycle. The results showed that the development of walking follows a linear trend and, at the transition phase, variability increases for intra-limb relative phase and duration of swing phase. Except for an increase on swing phase duration, backward walking imposes less change on temporal organization than forward walking. A padded surface was not enough to disrupt the duration of stepping cycles, but it did change the double support phase duration, increasing its variability. It was concluded that intra-limb relative phase of infants was similar to mature walking; variability reduced as the infants evolved in the study. The padded surface did not impact the relative phases, however, it was able to change the time in double support. Infants increase the duration of the forward walking cycles in comparison to backward walking.