Disclosures: Heather K. Vincent, PhD, MS: No financial relationships or conflicts of interest

Objective: To identify key performance differences in gait, physical function and postural balance among children with and without JIA.

Design: Observational, comparative study.Setting : Academic medical center.Participants : Participants with JIA and healthy comparative controls (N&#3f23; mean age 15.5±3.9; 43.5% female).

Interventions: Nor applicable.

Main Outcome Measures: Gait biomechanics, chair rise performance, stair navigation, postural sway. Patient Reported Outcome Measurement Information System (PROMIS®) Physical Function Mobility and Global Health and the Pediatric Functional Activity Brief Scale (Pedi-FABS).3D-motion analyses methods were coupled with force capture from an instrumented treadmill to capture gait kinematic and kinetics self-selected and fastest tolerable speeds. Force plates were used to determine postural sway (in two-foot stance, dominant single-leg stance, tandem stance). The 30-second Chair Rise Test (repetitions in 30-seconds) and stair ascent-descent (time to completion) were performed. The 11-point Wong-Baker face scale captured functional pain after each test.

Results: Thirteen JIA and 10 healthy controls were included for analysis. Self-selected gait speed was 24% slower in JIA, accompanied by slower cadence (98±15 versus 112±10 steps/min), lower peak ground reaction forces (1.07±.05 [JIA] versus 1.13±.05 bodyweights [healthy controls]; all p.05).Conclusions: Children with JIA demonstrate poor objective and subjective scores in areas of mobility and body weight transfer. These specific metrics may be valuable targets for tracking treatment efficacy.

Level of Evidence: Level II

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PM&R Meeting Abstracts - https://pmrjabstracts.org/abstract/gait-and-physical-function-performance-differences-in-children-with-juvenile-idiopathic-arthritis-jia-and-healthy-children/