Effects of Jump Rope on Navicular Drop in Down Syndrome

Navicular drop is a condition where the navicular bone descends, often leading to flatfoot and poor foot posture. This is particularly significant in children with Down syndrome, who are prone to foot structure abnormalities that can affect their mobility and overall physical activity. Children with Down syndrome frequently experience altered foot mechanics, which can contribute to navicular drop and associated complications. These biomechanical changes is crucial for developing targeted interventions that can enhance foot health and improve quality of life. The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of jumping rope and play activities on reducing navicular drop and improving foot posture in children with Down syndrome.

The current study will be randomized control trial, data will be collected from Tanzeem ul Lissan School FSD, Children Hospital FSD and Allied Hospital FSD. The study will include 32 patients equally divided into two groups and randomly allocated. Inclusion criteria for the study will be Children between the age of 4 to 15 years with navicular drop and prone foot. Patients with visual or auditory impairment, lower limb trauma, recent Surgical Intervention on lower limb will be excluded from the study. Experimental group will perform jumping rope combined with play activities and control group will be given play activities. Data collection will be done before and after the intervention. Tools used for data collection will be Navicular Drop Test and Foot Posture Index .Data will be analyzed through SPSS version 23.00.

Inclusion criteria

• age of 4 to 15 years
• navicular drop
• prone foot
• Acute musculoskeletal injuries
• Normal: 5-10 mm
• Excessive Drop: >10 mm (indicating possible flatfoot)
• Minimal Drop: <5 mm (indicating a higher arch)

Exclusion criteria

• visual or auditory impairment
• lower limb trauma
• recent Surgical Intervention on lower limb
• Non- compliance and behavioral issue
• Inability to participate