Efecto del traje terapéutico en la función motora gruesa de niños con parálisis cerebral / Effect of therapeutic suit on the gross motor function in children with cerebral palsy

Introducción: El traje terapéutico o Therasuit es una órtesis blanda que se usa durante el entrenamiento intensivo de patrones de movimiento en personas con afecciones neurológicas como la parálisis cerebral. Objetivo: Describir los cambios en la función motora gruesa en una población pediátrica con distintos tipos de parálisis cerebral, tratada con el traje terapéutico. Métodos: Estudio observacional longitudinal y retrospectivo donde se tomaron mediciones de la función motora gruesa antes y después de la aplicación del traje terapéutico a 56 niños que asistieron a un centro de neurorehabilitación en Cali, Colombia entre Junio de 2008 a Diciembre de 2014. Los niños se encontraban entre 3 -13 años de edad y en niveles I-V según la Clasificación de la Función Motora Gruesa. Se usó el test de Wicolxon para comparar las medianas de los puntajes de las mediciones con la Gross Motor Function Measure de 88 ítems. Resultados: Se observaron cambios positivos después de la aplicación del traje en los puntajes totales de la Gross Motor Function Measure (p= 0). Se hallaron diferencias positivas en todas las edades (dif. = 2 a 2,5 p<0,05), mayor en los niños de 11 a 13 años. Conclusiones: Los cambios observados después de aplicar el traje terapéutico a niños con parálisis cerebral sugieren que el entrenamiento motor con este enfoque terapéutico es efectivo para el logro de habilidades motoras gruesas. El cambio es más visible en niños severamente comprometidos y con espasticidad(AU)

Introduction: The therapeutic suit or Therasuit is a complementary therapy used in rehabilitation for intensive training of motor patterns in people with cerebral palsy. Objective: To describe the changes in the motor function in a pediatric population with different types of cerebral palsys. Methods: Observational, longitudinal and retrospective study in which the gross motor functions were measured before and after trying the therapeutic suit in 56 children admitted in the Center of Neurorehabilitation in Cali, Colombia from June 2008 to December 2014. The 56 participants had ages from 3 to 13 years, and levels from I to V according to the Classification of Gross Motor Function (GMFCS). Wicolxon test was used to compare the median scores of the 88-item Gross Motor Function Measure (GMFM-66) scale scores applied to children before and after the treatment with the suit. Results: After the application of the suit in children with CP, the differences in the measurements of GMFM-88 were effective (p= 0). Stratification of the population studied by age registered positive differences (dif. = 2 a 2,5 p<0,05) in all ages and greater in children aged 11 to 13 years in the total scores. Conclusions: The positive changes observed after applying the therapeutic suit to children with cerebral paralysis suggest that motor training with this therapeutic approach is effective for the achievement of gross motor skills. The change is more evident in children with severe manifestations and spasticity(AU)

Functional Improvement after the Gross Motor Function Measure-88 (GMFM-88) Item-Based Training in Children with Cerebral Palsy

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to investigate applicability of the GMFM-88 in planning intervention for CP children. Specifically, this study assessed functional improvement after a four-week GMFM-88 item-based training in CP children divided into three age groups (≤24 months, 25–48 months, and >48 months) and five levels of the gross motor function classification system (GMFCS). METHODS: Subjects were 264 children with CP (mean age 32.90 months) recruited from one CP clinic. The GMFM-88 item-based training was planned for each child, after an interview with its caregiver. To investigate functional improvement after the intervention, minimum important difference (MID) and MID proportion for the change in scores of GMFM-88 were calculated. RESULTS: The GMFM-88 scores increased after the interventions in all three age groups (p<0.05). In particular, children with CP aged ≤24 months and at the GMFCS level II showed greater functional improvement after training. CONCLUSION: This study found that the GMFM-88 item-based training would be used to plan activity-oriented intervention both in clinic and home in each CP child.

Effects of electrical stimulation on abdomen- posterior back muscles in children with cerebral palsy / Монголын Анагаах Ухаан

Background. Cerebral palsy (CP), which is the most commonly encountered neuromuscular disorder of childhood, causes permanent physical deficits and sometimes intellectual deficits. Despite advances in the diagnosis and treatment of CP, the incidence of that disorder has not declined; it parallels the increased survival rates of premature infants. The children with CP may not have trunk control because they have spasticity and weakness in their trunk control. Goal. This study aimed to investigate the efficiency of functional electrical stimulation (FES) application on the abdomen-posterior back muscles in children with Cerebral palsy (CP). Materials and Methods. However 40 children with spastic CP, being treated in physical therapy, were selected by the way of random-sampling in the study, some of children were excluded by exclusion criteria and then 30 children have completed the study. The participants were randomly divided into two groups FES (n=15) and control groups (n=15). The control group received physical therapy 3 days a week in 45 minute for 6 weeks. The children in the FES group received physical therapy in addition to function electrical stimulation. FES was applied 5 days a week for 6 weeks to abdomen-posterior back muscles in 30 minute-long sessions. To evaluate the score of gross motor function measurement (GMFM) and to evaluate the trunk asymmetry in sitting, radiographic measurements were used. Result. The comparisons of the measurements of the two groups before and after the treatment showed that the GMFM standing score were statistical significantly (p<0.001) increased, and Cobb angles were decreased both groups, but the decrease in the control group was not statistically significant (p=0.128), and FES group was statistically significant (p=0.033). The comparison between groups GMFM standing score increased higher in the FES group than in the control group. Cobb angles after the treatment were statistically significant higher in the FES group than in the control group. Conclusion: To improve gross motor developing for children with CP, FES applied on abdomenposterior back muscles along with physical therapy is more effective than physical therapy alone.

Inter-rater Reliability of the K-GMFM-88 and the GMPM for Children with Cerebral Palsy

OBJECTIVE: To examine inter-rater reliability of the Korean version Gross Motor Function Measure (K-GMFM-88) and the Gross Motor Performance Measure (GMPM) based on the video clips. METHOD: We considered a sample of 39 children (28 boys and 11 girls; the mean age=3.50+/-1.23 years) with cerebral palsy (CP). Two pediatric physical therapists assessed the children based on video recordings. RESULTS: For the K-GMFM-88, the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC3, 1) ranged from .978 to .995, and Spearman's correlation coefficient ranged from .916 to .997. For the GMPM, ICC3, 1 ranged from .863 to .929, and Spearman's correlation coefficient ranged from .812 to .885. With the gross motor function classification system classified according to the functional level (GMFCS I-II vs. III-V), the ICCs were .982 and .994 for the K-GMFM-88 total score and .815 and .913 for the GMPM total score. There were good or high correlations between the subscales of the two measures (r=.762-.884). CONCLUSION: The K-GMFM-88 and GMPM are reliable tools for assessing the motor function of children with CP. These two methods are highly correlated, which adds more reliability on them. Thus, it is advisable to use K-GMFM-88 and GMPM for children with CP to assess gross motor function.