Cerebral palsy children benefit from constraint therapy

Main Category: Public Health
Article Date: 04 Feb 2004 - 0:00 PDT

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A significant improvement was seen in children with cerebral palsy with a new therapy technique which involves casing one arm in a plaster cast.

Researchers found (Pediatrics Journal) that constraint-induced movement therapy used to treat young kids with cerebral palsy produced substantial and sustained improvements in their use of the affected arm.

(Constraint-induced movement therapy = CI)

CI is more commonly used for stroke victims (with hemiparesis). The researchers adapted this technique for young children. They conducted a randomised controlled trial and compared CI therapy with conventional treatment.

The child's good arm (the less impaired one) is placed in a cast. He/she then undergoes intensive physical therapy for six hours a day for 21 days.

'Shaping tasks' are used to develop such skills as reaching, holding objects, bearing weight on the arm and making hand gestures.

9 children were involved in the CI group and another 9 in the control group (the control group had conventional therapy for two hours a week). The children ranged from 7 months to 8 years of age.

The CI group had acquired an average of 9.3 new motor patterns and classes of functional activity. The control group acquired only 2.2.

There were also significantly larger improvements in use and sensory awareness of the more-impaired arm. Repeat testing at 3 and 6 months showed that treatment gains were maintained in the CI group.

Many of the children began crawling for the first time. Parents reported that their children's social and communications skills have also increased.

Reference: Taub E et al (2003) Efficacy of Constraint-Induced Movement Therapy for Children With Cerebral Palsy With Asymmetric Motor Impairment Pediatrics 113 (2) 305-312