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Frequency of mirror movements and comparison of hand function in spastic cerebral palsy children with and without
Javeria Shahid1, Sheema Khan2, Misbah Marryam3
1Railway General Hospital, Rawalpindi.
Insights
Mirror movements affect one-third of children with spastic cerebral palsy. While hand function remains similar, those without mirror movements show greater functional independence.
Area of Science:
- Neurology
- Pediatrics
- Rehabilitation Medicine
Background:
- Spastic cerebral palsy (CP) is a common childhood motor disorder.
- Mirror movements, involuntary repetitions of hand movements in the contralateral limb, are observed in some neurological conditions.
- Understanding the prevalence and impact of mirror movements in spastic CP is crucial for targeted interventions.
Purpose of the Study:
- To determine the frequency of mirror movements in children with spastic cerebral palsy.
- To compare the hand function of spastic CP children with and without mirror movements.
- To evaluate differences in functional independence between spastic CP children with and without mirror movements.
Main Methods:
- A comparative cross-sectional study was conducted in special education schools.
- Participants included 140 children aged 5-18 years diagnosed with spastic cerebral palsy.
- Mirror movements were assessed using Wood and Teuber criteria; hand function with the Jebsen-Taylor hand function test; and functional independence with the Manual Ability Classification System.
Main Results:
- Mirror movements were present in 35.7% of the study sample.
- No significant difference was found in unimanual hand function between children with and without mirror movements (p>0.05).
- Children without mirror movements demonstrated significantly greater functional independence (p<0.001).
Conclusions:
- Mirror movements are prevalent in approximately one-third of children with spastic cerebral palsy.
- Mirror movements do not appear to impact hand function in this population.
- The presence of mirror movements is associated with reduced functional independence in children with spastic cerebral palsy.
Objective:
To assess the frequency of mirror movements in spastic cerebral palsy children and to compare hand function and functional independence of such children with and without mirror movements. .
Methods:
The comparative cross-sectional study was conducted in special education schools of Lahore and Islamabad from August 2017 to January 2018, and comprised children of either gender aged 5-18 years diagnosed with spastic cerebral palsy who were able to make a gross grip. Wood and Teuber criteria for the assessment of mirror movements and Jebsen-Taylor hand function test for hand function assessment were used, while manual ability classification system was used for the assessment of functional independence. Data was analysed using SPSS 21.
Results:
Of the140 subjects, 113(80.7%) were boys and 27(19.3%) were girls. The overall mean age was 11.17}3.69 years. Of the total, 51(36.4%) subjects had diplegic cerebral palsy, while 50(35.7%) were suffering from mirror movements. There was no difference in the unimanual hand function of children with and without mirror movements (p>0.05). However, children without mirror movements had more functional independence (p<0.001).
Conclusions:
Mirror movement was found in one third of the sample, and there was no difference in hand function in children with and without mirror movements.
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