Spatio-temporal gait characteristics in children with Tourette syndrome: A preliminary study

Earlier studies had suggested that variability of stride length in gait is a pathological sign of basal ganglia disease. Some evidence implicates the involvement of the basal ganglia and related thalamocortical circuitry in Tourette syndrome (TS). To date, the gait of subjects with TS has only discussed in case reports. This investigation compared the spatial and temporal gait characteristics of a sample of children with TS (N = 8) with those of healthy controls (HC; N = 8). All children were instructed to walk under two speed conditions: “preferred” and “fastest.” Gait parameters were measured using an electronic walkway. Spatial and temporal gait parameters were compared using a two-way (group) × (conditions) repeated measures ANOVA. The preliminary results suggested that similar to HC children, children with TS were capable of regulating temporal characteristics of gait based on walking speed. They also exhibited subtle gait anomalies such as irregular step length, as evidenced by significant differences in step length differential (p = 0.003), detectable despite the small sample size. These findings warrant further investigation into the gait control of children with TS.