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Walking drawings and walking ability in children with cerebral palsy
Jimmy Chong1, Anna H Mackey, N Susan Stott
1Department of Surgery, University of Auckland, Private Bag 92019, Auckland, New Zealand.
Insights
Drawings by children with cerebral palsy (CP) can reveal their walking ability and how they perceive their condition. Larger drawings and confined self-portraits correlate with reduced walking capacity and greater distress.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Neurology
- Developmental Psychology
- Rehabilitation Medicine
Background:
- Cerebral palsy (CP) significantly impacts children's mobility and well-being.
- Understanding children's perceptions of their condition is crucial for effective management.
- Creative expression, such as drawing, may offer insights into a child's lived experience.
Purpose of the Study:
- To explore the relationship between self-drawings of walking in children with CP and their actual walking ability.
- To investigate associations between drawing characteristics and children's perceptions of their cerebral palsy.
Main Methods:
- An exploratory study involving 52 children with CP (mean age 11.1 years).
- Children created self-portraits depicting themselves walking.
- Drawing size and content were analyzed in relation to clinical walk tests and the Brief Illness Perception Questionnaire for CP.
Main Results:
- Larger self-drawings correlated with reduced walking distance and higher emotional responses to CP.
- A greater self-to-drawing height ratio was linked to poorer walking performance.
- Drawings depicting the self within buildings and lacking other figures were associated with diminished walking ability.
Conclusions:
- Drawing characteristics can serve as indicators of walking capacity and emotional responses in children with CP.
- Artistic self-representation may provide valuable insights into symptom perception and distress.
- Clinicians can utilize children's drawings as a tool to facilitate discussions about cerebral palsy.
Objectives:
To investigate whether drawings of the self walking by children with cerebral palsy (CP) were associated with walking ability and illness perceptions.
Method:
This was an exploratory study in 52 children with CP (M:F = 28:24), mean age 11.1 years (range 5-18), who were attending tertiary level outpatient clinics. Children were asked to draw a picture of themselves walking. Drawing size and content was used to investigate associations with clinical walk tests and children's own perceptions of their CP assessed using a CP version of the Brief Illness Perception Questionnaire.
Results:
Larger drawings of the self were associated with less distance traveled, higher emotional responses to CP, and lower perceptions of pain or discomfort, independent of age. A larger self-to-overall drawing height ratio was related to walking less distance. Drawings of the self confined within buildings and the absence of other figures were also associated with reduced walking ability.
Conclusion:
Drawing size and content can reflect walking ability, as well as symptom perceptions and distress. Drawings may be useful for clinicians to use with children with cerebral palsy to aid discussion about their condition.
