Performance of Children with Mental Retardation with and without Down’s Syndrome on Standardized Walking Obstacle Course

Objective: To compare the performance of children with mental retardation with and without Down’s syndrome on Standardised Walking Obstacle Course. Method: A prospective comparative study consisted of 30 participants between the age group of 6-14 years. These participants were divided into 2 groups Mentally retarded with Down’s syndrome and Mentally retarded without Down’s syndrome. Standardised Walking Obstacle Course Test (SWOC) is used to measure stability and speed during gait in terms of time, number of steps, number of stumbles and number of steps off the path for each participant Paired , Unpaired t test and ANOVA were used for data analysis. Results: The time taken and the number of steps off the path was significantly more (p<0.01) in children with Down’s syndrome as compared to children without Down’s syndrome. The number of steps and the number of stumbles was also more (p<0.01) in children with Down’s syndrome as compared to children without Down’s syndrome. Conclusion: Overall the quality of functional ambulation is decreased in children with Down’s syndrome as compared to those with Mental retardation in time, number of steps, stumbles and steps off the path.