Walking disorder is a frequent reason for consultation in pediatric rehabilitation. It is most often a lameness that imposes a precise etiologic diagnosis for an appropriate treatment.

Establish the epidemiological and diagnostic profile of chronic disability in school-based walking in Bobo-Dioulasso.

This was a cross-sectional study conducted in Bobo-Dioulasso primary schools from January to May 2014. It involved 10 schools from a simple random draw. Sampling was exhaustive. The diagnosis of the cases was based on clinical and paraclinical examination. Only students with a walking disorder who have been living for more than six months have been selected.

A total of 4336 students were examined. Of these, 62 had a chronic walking disability, giving a prevalence of 14.3‰. The main causes of chronic walking disability were axial deviations of the lower limbs (37.3%), followed by aseptic necrosis of the femoral head (30.65%) and iatrogenic paralysis of the sciatic nerve (11.3%). No cases of poliomyelitis were found.

Chronic walking disability occupies a modest place in childhood pathology in Burkina Faso. An epidemiological transition is under way with the disappearance of poliomyelitis sequelae in the infant population.