Effects of Treadmill Walking and Overground Walking in Young Children With Non-progressive Neurodevelopmental Disorders.

Introduction Neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs) are responsible for childhood brain dysfunction and developmental disability. Physical therapists are important team members in providing a beneficial impact on the gross motor function of children with NDDs. Early intervention provides a beneficial effect on the improvement of gross motor function; however, most of the studies on treadmill training were in late age and the effect of early treadmill walking along with conventional physiotherapy was not studied. Hence, the objective of the present study was to compare the effect of overground walking with treadmill walking in young children aged 12-36 months with non-progressive NDDs. Methodology An experimental study was performed for one year on diagnosed cases of non-progressive NDD. A total of 36 children with non-progressive NDD were recruited for the study between the ages of 12 and 36 months of either gender and were allocated into treadmill walking and overground walking groups. The intervention was given for eight consecutive weeks, four days per week, and for 20-25 minutes per day. The children were assessed using Gross Motor Function Measure-66 (GMFM-66) and Peabody Developmental Motor Scale-2 (PDMS-2) for both stationary and locomotion components. Results The comparison of both the groups with PDMS-2 (stationary) at baseline, follow-up, and post intervention reported mean values of 25.56 ± 12.16, 27.22 ± 11.74, and 28.44 ± 11.72, respectively, in the overground walking group and 28.72 ± 8.96, 29.72 ± 9.46, and 31.33 ± 8.85 in the treadmill walking group, respectively, with statistically significant results (p = 0.0022). Additionally, the comparison of both the groups with PDMS-2 (locomotion) reported mean values of 35.78 ± 24.02, 39.11 ± 23.21, and 43.00 ± 23.58, respectively, in the overground walking group and 39.67 ± 22.28, 43.17 ± 22.94, and 46.61 ± 24.16 in the treadmill walking group, respectively, with statistically significant results (p = 0.020). Moreover, the comparison of both the groups with total GMFM-66 reported mean values of 16.97 ± 14.52, 18.35 ± 14.88, and 20.49 ± 16.86, respectively, in the overground walking group and 18.52 ± 14.28, 21.66 ± 15.76, and 25.92 ± 16.95 in the treadmill walking group with statistically significant results (p = 0.0118). Conclusion The present study concluded that between both the groups, a statistically significant difference was observed for PDMS-2 (stationary and locomotion) and GMFM-66 after a scheduled intervention of eight weeks. Hence, walking should be carried out as a part of therapy in early intervention and further studies can be performed to determine the long-term effect of these interventions and their role in the prevention of secondary complications.