Gluteus medius muscle activation patterns during gait with Cerebral Palsy (CP): A hierarchical clustering analysis

Duchenne gait, characterized by an ipsilateral trunk lean towards the affected stance limb, compensates for weak hip abductor muscles, notably the gluteus medius (GM). This study aims to investigate how electromyographic (EMG) cluster analysis of GM contributes to a better understanding of Duchenne gait in patients with cerebral palsy (CP). We analyzed retrospective gait data from 845 patients with CP and 65 typically developed individuals. EMG activity of GM in envelope format were collected and examined with gait kinematics and kinetics parameters in frontal plane and hip abductor strength, and hip abduction passive range of motion. Six key EMG envelope features during ten gait phases were extracted and normalized. A hybrid K-means-PSO clustering algorithm was employed, followed by hierarchical clustering. The identified clusters were characterized by having a low (cluster_1), medium (cluster_2), and high (cluster_3) activity of GM during loading response. The patients in cluster_1 also exhibited pathological gait characteristics, including increased trunk lateral lean and weak hip abductor, which are associated with Duchenne gait. The patients in this cluster were subclustered according to their response to the intervention: SUB_1 with a significant improvement in trunk obliquity, pelvic obliquity, and hip abduction after intervention, and SUB_2 without such improvement. Comparing pre-treatment EMG and clinical exam of the sub_clusters, SUB_1 had significantly higher activity of GM during 50–87% of the gait cycle with a greater passive range of hip abduction compared to SUB_2. This study established a relationship between EMG of GM and frontal plane gait abnormalities in patients with CP, highlighting potential improvement in Duchenne gait with prolonged GM activity during swing after the intervention.