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Published on: January 11, 2016
Changes in elementary finger-hand functions over time in preschool children with spastic cerebral palsy
1Child Centre Maulbronn and University of Heidelberg, Knittlinger Steige 21, 75433 Maulbronn, Germany. blank@kize.de
Insights
Young children with bilateral spastic cerebral palsy (BCSP) showed improved finger motor skills over one year, similar to typically developing peers. Hand tapping speed, however, did not significantly change.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Neurology
- Developmental Motor Neuroscience
- Rehabilitation Medicine
Background:
- Bilateral spastic cerebral palsy (BCSP) significantly impacts fine motor skills in young children.
- Understanding the developmental trajectory of motor capacity in BCSP is crucial for targeted interventions.
Purpose of the Study:
- To assess the one-year development of basic finger-hand motor capacity in preschool-aged children with BCSP.
- To compare motor skill improvements in children with BCSP to normative data.
Main Methods:
- A longitudinal study involving 30 children (ages 3-6) with BCSP.
- Evaluated maximal finger grip strength (FGMAX), finger force changes (FGCHANGE), finger tapping (FTAP), and hand tapping (HTAP) at baseline and 12-month follow-up.
Main Results:
- FGMAX, FGCHANGE, and FTAP showed a 10-15% improvement over 12 months in both hands (FTAP not statistically significant).
- Hand tapping frequency (HTAP) remained unchanged.
- The motor capacity gap between children with BCSP and normative samples did not widen.
Conclusions:
- Preschool-aged children with BCSP demonstrate significant improvement in basic finger functions over one year.
- Motor development in BCSP occurs at a rate comparable to typically developing children.
- Despite improvements, hand tapping speed did not advance, indicating specific areas for potential therapeutic focus and neuroplasticity in elementary finger functions for object manipulation.
Abstract:
To examine the development of basic finger-hand motor capacity in a one-year follow-up experiment performed on young children with bilateral spastic cerebral palsy (CP). The maximal finger grip strength (FGMAX), the frequencies of the fastest voluntary isometric finger force changes (FGCHANGE) while holding an object, in addition to the finger (FTAP) and hand tapping frequencies (HTAP) were examined on two separate occasions in 30 children between the ages of three to six years with bilateral spastic CP (BCSP). The examinations were performed 12 months apart in order to test for improvements in the aforementioned functions. After a one-year period of time, the FGMAX, FGCHANGE and FTAP values increased by 10-15% in both hands (changes in FTAP values were not statistically significant), while the HTAP values remained unchanged. In regard to the normative samples obtained from children of this age period, the gap in the motor capacity of the fingers did not increase. We observed an improvement in the basic finger functions over a one-year period of time in preschool aged children diagnosed with spastic CP. Interestingly, the improvement proceeded at a similar rate to that observed in normally developing children. However, the fastest hand tapping movements (HTAP) did not improve during this one-year time interval. In addition, we observed that in young children with BSCP, there appears to be considerable potential for the development and reorganisation of the elementary finger functions that are requisite for object manipulation.
