Which gait features a wide base, staggering steps, and variable foot placement, often due to cerebellar dysfunction?

Which gait features a wide base, staggering steps, and variable foot placement, often due to cerebellar dysfunction?

• A. Crouched gait
• B. Ataxic gait
• C. Parkinsonian gait
• D. Hemiplegic gait

Answer: (B)

Ataxic gait is a pattern that shows how problems with balance and coordination show up in walking. When the cerebellum isn’t coordinating movement properly, the person can’t place the feet in a smooth, predictable sequence. A wide base helps widen the support area to compensate for that instability, and the steps become staggered with irregular, variable foot placement because limb trajectories and timing can’t be planned reliably. This combination—a broad stance, uneven step lengths, and inconsistent foot placement—is classic for cerebellar dysfunction, often called gait ataxia. Why the others don’t fit as well: a crouched gait involves flexed knees and hips from spasticity or contractures rather than loss of coordination; a Parkinsonian gait has a stooped posture, small shuffling steps, and reduced arm swing with a relatively narrow base; a hemiplegic gait comes from unilateral weakness after a stroke, typically with circumduction or a dragged foot on the affected side rather than a global coordination problem.

Ataxic gait is a pattern that shows how problems with balance and coordination show up in walking. When the cerebellum isn’t coordinating movement properly, the person can’t place the feet in a smooth, predictable sequence. A wide base helps widen the support area to compensate for that instability, and the steps become staggered with irregular, variable foot placement because limb trajectories and timing can’t be planned reliably. This combination—a broad stance, uneven step lengths, and inconsistent foot placement—is classic for cerebellar dysfunction, often called gait ataxia.

Why the others don’t fit as well: a crouched gait involves flexed knees and hips from spasticity or contractures rather than loss of coordination; a Parkinsonian gait has a stooped posture, small shuffling steps, and reduced arm swing with a relatively narrow base; a hemiplegic gait comes from unilateral weakness after a stroke, typically with circumduction or a dragged foot on the affected side rather than a global coordination problem.