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Gross motor function measure for children with cerebral palsy
1Department of Physiotherapy, Jockey Club Rehabilitation Centre, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, SAR, China.
Insights
This study compared motor function in children with spastic diplegic and athetoid cerebral palsy (CP) using the Gross Motor Function Measure (GMFM). Spastic diplegic CP showed higher scores, but both groups performed similarly on static and dynamic tasks.
Area of Science:
- Pediatrics
- Neurology
- Rehabilitation Medicine
Background:
- Cerebral palsy (CP) is a group of movement disorders.
- Spastic diplegic and athetoid CP are common subtypes with distinct motor patterns.
- Understanding functional differences is crucial for targeted interventions.
Purpose of the Study:
- To compare the motor dysfunction patterns in Hong Kong Chinese children with spastic diplegic and athetoid cerebral palsy (CP).
- To evaluate the utility of the Gross Motor Function Measure (GMFM) in differentiating upper and lower limb function in these CP types.
Main Methods:
- The Gross Motor Function Measure (GMFM) was validated for content, test-retest, and inter-rater reliability.
- A within-subject experiment compared motor function in 18 children with spastic diplegia and 19 with athetosis.
- GMFM scores for tasks involving upper limbs versus those not involving upper limbs were analyzed.
Main Results:
- The spastic diplegic group achieved significantly higher GMFM scores overall.
- No significant differences were found in the performance of static and dynamic motor tasks between the two CP groups.
- GMFM demonstrated reliability in assessing motor function in children with CP.
Conclusions:
- Children with spastic diplegic CP exhibit a distinct motor dysfunction pattern compared to athetoid CP, as indicated by higher GMFM scores.
- Despite overall score differences, static and dynamic motor task performance shows overlap between these CP subtypes.
- The GMFM is a reliable tool for assessing gross motor function in children with cerebral palsy.
Abstract:
The aim of this study was to compare the pattern of motor dysfunction in Hong Kong Chinese children with spastic diplegic and the athetoid type of cerebral palsy (CP) by the Gross Motor Function Measure (GMFM). The GMFM was first tested on its content validity in differentiating the items suitable for testing on upper and lower limb function, followed by test-retest and inter-rater reliability studies, before it was used in a within-subject experiment comparing upper and lower gross motor function in two types of CP, respectively. Children with spastic diplegia (n=18) and with athetosis (n=19) were recruited from three pre-school centres, schools for physically handicapped children and centres of the Hong Kong Spastic Association in Hong Kong. The GMFM, a standardized outcome measure of the motor function in children with CP, was used in comparing mean scores of motor tasks involving upper limbs and those not involving upper limbs in the athetoid and spastic cerebral palsied children. The scores were significantly higher for the children in the spastic diplegic group, but there was no significant difference in the performance of static and dynamic motor tasks of the GMFM between the children in the two groups.
