COMPARISON OF MUSCULAR FREQUENCY CONTENT IN HEALTHY CHILDREN AND CHILDREN WITH OVERACTIVE/ATTENTION DEFICIENT DURING WALKING

Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder is a common neurocognitive disorder that has been one of the most extensive research fields and also one of the largest sources of referrals to mental health centers in recent decades. The aim of the present study was to compare muscular frequency content in healthy children and children with overactive/attention deficient during walking.

The present study was a case-control type. The statistical sample included 20 boys with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder and 20 healthy boys with an age range of 7-9 years, who were selected by convenient sampling method. A bipolar EMG system with 8 paires of electrodes was used to record EMG data of tibialis anterior, medial gastrocnemius, vastus medialis, vastus lateralis, rectus femoris, biceps femoris, and gluteus medius while walking. Independent sample t-test was used for statistical analysis.

The results indicated that the frequency of the medial gastrocnemius muscle during the loading phase is higher in the hyperactive group than the healthy group (p<0.001). Also, results demonstrated that frequency continent of vastus medialis during loading phase and frequency continent of gluteus medius during mid-stance phase were lower in overactive group than healthy group (p<0.001).

Lower vastus medialis and gluteus medius activities in overactive group may be due to weal postural control in sagittal and frontal planes.