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Completed Dissertations
Centre for Clinical Research Excellence in Clinical Gait Analysis and Gait Rehabilitation
A collaboration between:
Completed Dissertations
Fiona Dobson
School of Physiotherapy. The University of Melbourne
Project: 2007. Classification of gait patterns in children with hemiplegic cerebral palsy. This research looked at developing a new population-based grading system to classify walking patterns in children with hemiplegic cerebral palsy using information from 3-dimensional gait analysis and the judgments from expert clinicians. This new system will assist clinicians to better identify, communicate and treat walking impairments in children with hemiplegia.
Jill Rodda
School of Physiotherapy. The University of Melbourne
Project: 2006. Severe crouch gait in spastic diplegia: the impact of single event multilevel surgery. This research provided a classification of gait patterns in children with spastic diplegia and looked at how effective single event multilevel surgery (SEMLS) corrected the crouch walking pattern seen in these children. Following SEMLS, children had an improved walking pattern at the knee and ankle but less so at the hip and pelvis. These findings have led to changes in the surgical techniques now used to correct crouch walking.
Gavin Williams
School of Physiotherapy, La Trobe University
Project: 2006. The high-level mobility assessment tool (HiMAT) for traumatic brain injury. This project looked at developing a high-level mobility assessment tool for measuring mobility in young people with TBI. Young survivors of TBI expect to return to life roles not measured by existing scales. The HiMAT will allow therapists to measure recovery to a higher level, justify therapy provision, and benchmark age appropriate norms.
Susan Morris
School of Physiotherapy, La Trobe University
Project: 2006. The effects of progressive resistance strength training in adults with traumatic brain injury(TBI). This project investigated whether muscle strength, walking speed, functional activities and societal participation improved in adults with TBI following an eight week community based progressive resistance strength training program The strength training program was found to be safe, feasible to conduct at any community gymnasium and successful in bringing about strength changes and improved function in some of the participants.
Natalyia Shkuratova
School of Physiotherapy, La Trobe University
Project: 2006. The Effects of Ageing and Parkinson Disease on Balance During Walking. This thesis showed that older people were more limited than younger adults, and people with PD were more limited than healthy older controls in their ability to adjust to unexpected changes in floor support surfaces and a transition from a wide to a narrow pathway. This information is important to help reduce the number of falls in people with PD.
Frances Huxham
School of Physiotherapy. La Trobe University
Project: 2005. Gait and turning disorders in Parkinson’s disease
Mary Danoudis
School of Physiotherapy, La Trobe University
Project: 2008. Master of Physiotherapy. Identification of the Spatiotemporal and Observational Gait Characteristics of Adults with Frontal Gait Apraxia. This study aimed to characterise the gait pattern of people with frontal gait apraxia (FGA) using spatiotemporal measures and observational data. Describing the footstep patterns of people with FGA may assist clinicians in identifying this gait disorder and in developing and evaluating interventions.
