Augmenting Ankle Plantarflexor Function in Cerebral Palsy

The first specific aim is to quantify improvement in ankle muscle function and functional mobility following targeted ankle resistance gait training in ambulatory children with cerebral palsy (CP). The primary hypothesis for the first aim is that targeted ankle resistance training will produce larger improvements in lower-extremity motor control, gait mechanics, and clinical measures of mobility assessed four- and twelve-weeks post intervention compared to standard physical therapy and standard gait training. The second specific aim is to determine the efficacy of adaptive ankle assistance to improve capacity and performance during sustained, high-intensity, and challenging tasks in ambulatory children with CP. The primary hypothesis for the second aim is that adaptive ankle assistance will result in significantly greater capacity and performance during the six-minute-walk-test and graded treadmill and stair stepping protocols compared to walking with ankle foot orthoses and walking with just shoes.

NCT Number	NCT05154253
Lead Sponsor	Northern Arizona University Collaborators: Gillette Children's Specialty Healthcare, University of Washington
Conditions	Cerebral Palsy
Enrollment	36 participants
Start Date	2023-02-01
Primary Completion	2026-09-14 (estimated)
Study Completion	2026-09-25 (estimated)
Updated on ClinicalTrials.gov	2026-03-03