effects of functional therapy on motor development in children with cerebral palsy

Cerebral palsy [CP] is one of the most common causes of activity limitation in children. Although the central nervous system [CNS] lesion, causing the disorder of posture and movement, is not progressive, the manifestations of the lesion however may change over time. The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of a functional therapy program on motor abilities of children with cerebral palsy. In the year 2007, in a pre- and post design study, fifteen children, diagnosed with CP at the physiotherapy clinic of Zahedan University of Medical Sciences were recruited using simple non - probability sampling by consulting the child neurologist. Before and after intervention, subjects were classified with Gross Motor Function Classification System [GMFCS] to assess gross motor function with the Gross Motor Function Measure [GMFM]. Muscle tonicity was graded, based on the Modified Ashworth Scale [MAS]. A 24 session functional physical therapy program which lasted 12 weeks, twice per week, and 90min per session was carried out. Fifteen children with CP [12 boys and 3 girls] aged 21.87 +/- 13.37 months were enrolled in this study; six of them were diplegic, 7 hemiplegic, and 2 quadriplegic. After treatment, muscle tonicity decreased from 1.93 +/- 0.59 to 0.87 +/- 0.64 [P<0.0001]. The subjects' GMFM scores increased significantly from 30.52 +/- 28.99 to 49.27 +/- 26.9 [P<0.0001]. The results showed that a functional therapy program may be effective in increasing gross motor function and improving daily activities in children with cerebral palsy, thereby decreasing parent and nursing dependency following this program

[Intestinal parasitic infections in Zahedan day-care units]

Background: the prevalence of infection with bowel parasites is still remarkably high in children of developing countries. Day-care units usually serve for the infants and children as their primary site of social contact; so we aimed to determine the frequency rate of bowel infections h1 children attending these places, on their arrival and comparing it with this frequency 4-6 months afterwards

Methods and Materials: in this descriptive-analytic longitudinal study performed during the latter half of 1378, a total of 853 children of 4-6 years were randomly selected from day-care units of different regions in Zahedan. After recording the demographic data, a direct stool exam scatch test and formaline-etter test were done. In the first stage 411 and in the next stage [4-6 months later] 438 children were studied. Chi-square test was used to compare the injection rate between the first and second stages

Results: the rate of infected children was 19. 1% and 42% in the first and the second stages respectively. The highest increase in infection rate belonged to Oxyuris which increased from 4. 7% in stage one to 15.5% in stage two. The rate of infection with Giardia lambelia and Hemonolepsis nana was 10.6% and 3.1% in stage one, which respectively raised to 15% and 4.6% in stage two. The above_ increment was significant [P<0.05]. Totally 835 children all younger than 6 years old were studied in the two stages of which 263 [30.8%] had at least one type of infection. The frequency of infection with Oxyuris was 78 in 785 prepared slides

Conclusions: considering the life cycle of bowel parasites and their routes of transmission, it seems that we face shortness in knowledge of workers in day-care centers and also an insufficiency in practice of sanitary principles. A closer study of effective factors in transmission of infestation in these centers and their elimination, periodically testing the children and their care-givers, and finally programs of hygiene education and control for the workers seems a necessity