Comparison of Gait Pattern among Blind and Blind Folded Sighted Subjects: A Cross-sectional Study

Abstract

Introduction: Gait is the normal way of walking pattern. The visual system of sighted subjects furnishes information concerning the environment from distant and plays important role in maintaining the stability and planning of the route during locomotion. During movement of the sighted subject, the visual perception of the surroundings enables the orientation towards the goal. Movement and position of limbs is also important in order to adjust foot clearance or foot placement to regulate the walking pace. Aim: To compare the gait pattern among blind and blind folded sighted subjects as well as among healthy and underweight blind and blind folded sighted subjects. Materials And Methods: The cross-sectional study was conducted in Department of Physiology, RKDF Medical College Hospital and Research Centre, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India, from October 2019 to April 2021. A total of 181 sighted and 150 blind subjects aged between 10-17 years were taken in the study. Foot print method was used to record spatial components. The temporal components were measured with stop watch. Rivermead Visual Gait Analysis (RVGA) was use to analyse kinematic characteristics. The estimation of healthy and underweight subjects were done by calculation of Body Mass Index (BMI). Quantitative data was expressed as mean±standard deviation. Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20.0 was used for statistical analysis. Results: The mean value of gait in blind folded sighted and blind subjects was found to be 3.28±0.48 and 2.01± 0.79 respectively and was found statically significant having (p-value=0.001). The results of mean value of gait on the basis BMI, the healthy blind folded sighted and healthy blind subjects showed 3.29±0.46 and 1.99±0.75 respectively (p-value=0.001). Similarly, the gait pattern in underweight blind folded sighted and underweight bind subjects was observed to be 3.26±0.61 and 1.98±0.77 respectively (p-value=0.001). Conclusion: The gait pattern was found to be significantly better among the blind folded sighted subjects in comparison to the blind subjects.