Immediate effects of suspension walker support on locomotor behavior of pre-walking infants with Down syndrome

Abstract

AimsOur primary aim was to determine the immediate effects of using a supported stepping device on the real-time locomotor behavior of pre-walking infants with Down syndrome (DS). Our secondary aim was to characterize the role of the caregiver in facilitating infant locomotor behavior by quantifying infant-initiated and caregiver-initiated walker movement, and to test whether walker movement encourages stepping behavior.

MethodsPre-walking infants with DS played with their caregiver in two conditions--with and without assistance from a wheeled suspension walker. To examine changes across development, we recorded infants across one to four sessions from 10 to 19 months of age.

ResultsAcross developmental stages, we found that suspension walkers robustly increased infants locomotor behavior: The walker increased upright time, percent time stepping, stepping rate, upright bout rate, percent time locomoting, and total bout rate. Most walker movement was initiated by caregivers, and infants stepped more while the walker was moving compared to stationary.

ConclusionsEven without practice, pre-walking infants with DS were able to take advantage of the suspension walker to increase their locomotor behavior. Caregivers facilitated infants activity by moving the walker. Future work will examine the potential of overground suspension walkers for home-based intervention.

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BibTeX RIS

BibTeX

@misc{hospodar2026immediate,
  title = {{Immediate effects of suspension walker support on locomotor behavior of pre-walking infants with Down syndrome}},
  author = {C. Hospodar and H. A. Feldner and J. Looper and K. Kretch},
  howpublished = {medRxiv},
  year = {2026},
  month = oct,
  doi = {10.64898/2026.10.02.26364604},
  url = {https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.02.26364604v1},
  note = {CC BY-ND},
}

RIS

TY  - UNPB
TI  - Immediate effects of suspension walker support on locomotor behavior of pre-walking infants with Down syndrome
AU  - C. Hospodar
AU  - H. A. Feldner
AU  - J. Looper
AU  - K. Kretch
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/10/02
PB  - medRxiv
DO  - 10.64898/2026.10.02.26364604
UR  - https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.02.26364604v1
AB  - AimsOur primary aim was to determine the immediate effects of using a supported stepping device on the real-time locomotor behavior of pre-walking infants with Down syndrome (DS). Our secondary aim was to characterize the role of the caregiver in facilitating infant locomotor behavior by quantifying infant-initiated and caregiver-initiated walker movement, and to test whether walker movement encourages stepping behavior.  MethodsPre-walking infants with DS played with their caregiver in two conditions--with and without assistance from a wheeled suspension walker. To examine changes across development, we recorded infants across one to four sessions from 10 to 19 months of age.  ResultsAcross developmental stages, we found that suspension walkers robustly increased infants locomotor behavior: The walker increased upright time, percent time stepping, stepping rate, upright bout rate, percent time locomoting, and total bout rate. Most walker movement was initiated by caregivers, and infants stepped more while the walker was moving compared to stationary.  ConclusionsEven without practice, pre-walking infants with DS were able to take advantage of the suspension walker to increase their locomotor behavior. Caregivers facilitated infants activity by moving the walker. Future work will examine the potential of overground suspension walkers for home-based intervention.
ER  -

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