A cross sectional study investigating dynamic balance when stepping to targets in children with cerebral palsy compared to typically developing children.

Background: Children with Cerebral Palsy (CP) have altered anticipatory postural adjustments (APAs) during gait initiation. These APAs may affect dynamic balance in tasks such as stepping.

Research Questions: How are APAs in children with CP affected during stepping to precise targets? How do children with CP modulate APAs when stepping to medial and lateral targets? What is the association between APAs and symptom severity, movement quality and impairment profile?

Method: Children undertook a stepping task to laterally and medially placed targets with either leg, in a randomised order.