Clinical Profile of Patients with Cerebral Palsy – A Hospital-based Study

ABSTRACT

Background: Cerebral palsy (CP) is one of the leading causes of childhood disability worldwide with the greatest burdenfound in developing countries. Motor impairments are the hallmarks of CP, but in many individuals, other impairments suchas vision, hearing, speech, cognition, behavior, and epilepsy may at times produce even greater activity limitation in daily life.Early diagnosis and comprehensive management with a multidisciplinary approach are required for satisfactory managementof a child with CP. In low- and middle-income countries, there are gaps in knowledge especially in spheres of epidemiologicalresearch, intervention, and service utilization.Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional observational study was conducted among the children coming to the inpatientand outpatient Department of Paediatrics SMGS Hospital, Government Medical College Jammu.Aims and Objectives: The aim of the study was to study the clinical pattern and etiological factors of CP and to determine the prevalenceof associated disabilities or handicaps in CP. Our study population included 100 cases of diagnosed CP up to 18 years of age.Results: A total of 100 children of CP were evaluated of which 59% were boys and 41% were girls. CP patients belonged tovarious age groups as, <2 years (46%), 2–4 years (30%), 4–6 years (12%), 6–12 years (10%), and 12–18 years (2%). CP patientscoming to our hospital belonged to various districts such as Jammu (27%), Rajouri (20%), Doda (17%), Reasi (11%), Udhampur(8%), Kathua (7%), Poonch (5%), and Samba (5%). The most common etiological factors were birth asphyxia (48%). The spastictype was the most common (65%), followed by ataxic (15%), dyskinetic (10%), and mixed (10%). Among the spastic quadriplegic,subtype was seen in 69%, diplegia in 23%, and hemiplegia in 8%. Speech delay was the most common associated problem(80%), followed by seizures (56%), feeding difficulty (46%), and contractures and deformities (20%). Formal vision assessmenthad been done in only 48% of the patients, among them, 30% had normal vision, 9% had refractive error, 7% were havingstrabismus, and 2% were blind. Spectacles were being used by only three patients. A mere 30% of the patients had undergonehearing assessment; among them, 6% were having moderate to profound hearing loss. Hearing aid was being used by twopatients. Physiotherapy services were being availed by 47% of patients. Early intervention and appropriate rehabilitation servicesshould be provided to such children to limit the disability. Medical college hospitals of India, where a number of these childrenreport with their various problems, can play an important role as nodal centers for evaluation and registration of such patients.