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The effect of intense physical therapy for children with cerebral palsy
Jennifer Braswell Christy1, Corinne G Chapman, Patrice Murphy
1Department of Physical Therapy, The University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA. JBraswel@uab.edu
Insights
Intense physical therapy improved gross motor skills and participation in children with cerebral palsy (CP). However, community walking ability did not show significant improvement after the intervention.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric physical therapy
- Cerebral palsy research
- Rehabilitation medicine
Background:
- Cerebral palsy (CP) significantly impacts gross motor function and community participation in children.
- Effective interventions are crucial for improving functional outcomes in pediatric CP.
- Understanding the impact of intensive physical therapy protocols is essential for clinical practice.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the effects of an intense physical therapy program on gross motor function, community walking, and participation in children with CP.
- To assess the short-term and medium-term outcomes of a modified TheraSuit protocol.
- To determine if intensive therapy enhances functional mobility and daily activity levels.
Main Methods:
- A single-group study design with 17 ambulatory children with CP.
- Intervention: Intense physical therapy (4 hours/day, 5 days/week, 3 weeks) using a modified TheraSuit protocol.
- Outcome measures: Gross Motor Function Measure (GMFM-66), Step Watch Activity Monitor (SAM), Canadian Occupational Performance Measure (COPM), and Pediatric Outcomes Data Collection Instrument (PODCI) assessed at baseline, post-intervention, and 3-month follow-up.
Main Results:
- Significant improvements in GMFM-66, COPM, and PODCI scores were observed immediately after the intervention (p < 0.001).
- These improvements in GMFM-66 and COPM were sustained at the 3-month follow-up (p < 0.01).
- No significant changes were found in walking amount or intensity as measured by SAM.
Conclusions:
- Intense physical therapy, based on the TheraSuit protocol, effectively enhances gross motor skills and participation in children with CP.
- Community ambulation, measured by walking amount and intensity, did not improve with this intervention.
- The findings suggest that while intensive therapy benefits specific functional domains, it may not directly translate to increased community walking in this population.
Purpose:
To determine the effect of an intense physical therapy intervention on gross motor function, community walking and participation in children with cerebral palsy (CP).
Methods:
A single group design was used with two pre-test and two post-test measures. Subjects were 17 ambulatory children with CP who participated in an intense intervention (i.e., four hours per day, five days per week, three weeks), a modified version of the TheraSuit protocol. Gross motor function measure (GMFM-66), Step watch activity monitor (SAM), Canadian occupational performance measure (COPM) and pediatric outcomes data collection instrument (PODCI) were tested twice at baseline, immediately following the intervention, and three months later.
Results:
Immediately following the intervention, GMFM-66, COPM and PODCI scores improved significantly (p < 0.001). At three months, improvements remained for GMFM-66 and COPM (p < 0.01). Walking amount or intensity (SAM) did not improve.
Conclusions:
Participants improved gross motor skills and participation but not community ambulation following this intense physical therapy intervention.
