Characterizing Cycling Smoothness and Rhythm in Children With and Without Cerebral Palsy
- Resource Type
- article
- Authors
- Ashwini Sansare; Ahad Behboodi; Therese E. Johnston; Barry Bodt; Samuel C. K. Lee
- Source
- Frontiers in Rehabilitation Sciences, Vol 2 (2021)
- Subject
- recumbent cycling
rehabilitation
physical activity
motor control
fitness
Other systems of medicine
RZ201-999
Medical technology
R855-855.5
- Language
- English
- ISSN
- 2673-6861
Stationary cycling is a practical exercise modality in children with cerebral palsy (CP) that lack the strength for upright exercises. However, there is a lack of robust, sensitive metrics that can quantitatively assess the motor control during cycling. The purpose of this brief report was to characterize the differences in motor control of cycling in children with CP and with typical development by developing novel metrics to quantify cycling smoothness and rhythm. Thirty one children with spastic diplegic CP and 10 children with typical development cycled on a stationary cycle. Cycling smoothness was measured by cross-correlating the crank angle with an ideal cycling pattern generated from participant-specific cadence and cycling duration. Cycling rhythmicity was assessed by evaluating the revolution-to-revolution variability in the time required to complete a revolution. Statistically significant differences (p < 0.001) using the Wilcoxon Rank Sum test were found between the two groups for both the metrics. Additionally, decision tree analysis revealed thresholds of smoothness