Related Experiment Videos
Anaerobic endurance and peak muscle power in children with spastic cerebral palsy
D F Parker1, L Carriere, H Hebestreit
1Children's Exercise and Nutrition Centre, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario.
Insights
Children with spastic cerebral palsy exhibit significantly lower anaerobic muscle power in both upper and lower limbs compared to healthy peers. This reduced muscle performance is linked to the severity of their condition.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Rehabilitation
- Neuromuscular Physiology
- Biomedical Engineering
Background:
- Spastic cerebral palsy (CP) significantly impacts motor function, affecting muscle strength and endurance.
- Understanding anaerobic muscle power is crucial for assessing functional limitations in children with CP.
Purpose of the Study:
- To quantify anaerobic muscle endurance (mean power) and peak muscle power in the upper and lower limbs of children with spastic CP.
- To compare these power measures against normative data for healthy children.
- To correlate muscle power deficits with the severity of CP.
Main Methods:
- The Wingate Anaerobic Test was administered to assess peak and mean power in 49 children (29 boys, 20 girls) aged 6-14 years.
- Functional assessment using physical capacity, upper limb, and lower limb scores evaluated CP severity.
- Data were compared to age- and gender-matched healthy, nonathletic children.
Main Results:
- Children with spastic CP demonstrated distinctly subnormal peak and mean power, even after body weight correction.
- Subjects with quadriplegia showed performance 3-4 standard deviations (SDs) below controls.
- Moderate to severe CP correlated with 3-4 SDs below normal mean power; mild CP showed more scattered, but still below-average, results.
Conclusions:
- Children with spastic CP have significantly impaired anaerobic muscle power.
- Muscle power deficits are more pronounced with increased CP severity, particularly in quadriplegia.
- Altered innervation and disuse likely contribute to reduced muscle performance in affected children.
Abstract:
The aim of this study was to provide information on anaerobic muscle endurance (mean power) and peak muscle power in children with spastic cerebral palsy. We measured peak power and mean power of the upper and lower limbs in 29 boys and 20 girls, aged from 6 to 14 years, by means of the Wingate Anaerobic Test. In addition, the physical components (physical capacity, upper limb, and lower limb) of a system used for evaluating function in the physically disabled were assessed. Of the 49 subjects, 46 and 37 successfully completed the arm and leg Wingate Anaerobic Test, respectively. Compared with norms for age and gender (healthy, nonathletic children), peak and mean power in the patients, even when corrected for body weight, were distinctly subnormal. The performance of subjects with quadriplegia was 3 to 4 SDs below the mean for controls. Twenty-five of diplegic and hemiplegic subjects had values below 2 SDs. When the data were analyzed according to the severity of the cerebral palsy, with the use of the physical capacity, upper limb, and lower limb score, those children with moderate to severe cerebral palsy had values for mean and peak power of the arm and leg 3 to 4 SDs below the normal mean. Values for children with only mild cerebral palsy also fell below the mean, but the data were more scattered, especially for the leg. The lower muscle performance may reflect both quantitative and qualitative differences in the upper- and lower-limb muscles, due to altered innervation and, in the more severely affected children, disuse.