Self-care performance in children with cerebral palsy: a longitudinal study
Andrea Burgess1, Roslyn N Boyd1, Mark D Chatfield1
1Faculty of Medicine, Queensland Cerebral Palsy and Rehabilitation Research Centre, Child Health Research Centre, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia.
Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology
|May 21, 2020
Summary
Children with cerebral palsy (CP) show varying self-care development based on manual ability. Higher function (MACS I-III) improves self-care, while severe impairment (MACS V) leads to decline.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric rehabilitation
- Developmental pediatrics
- Neurology
Background:
- Cerebral palsy (CP) affects motor skills, impacting daily activities.
- Understanding self-care development is crucial for children with CP.
- Manual Ability Classification System (MACS) categorizes functional ability.
Purpose of the Study:
- To examine self-care development trajectories in children with CP.
- To analyze development across all Manual Ability Classification System (MACS) levels.
- To identify factors influencing self-care progression in pediatric CP.
Main Methods:
- Prospective longitudinal population-based study of 71 children with CP (2.5 to 12 years).
- Utilized Pediatric Evaluation of Disability Inventory (PEDI) and PEDI-Computer Adaptive Test (PEDI-CAT) for self-care assessment.
- Employed multilevel mixed-effects regression modelling to analyze age and MACS interaction.
Main Results:
- Children in MACS levels I-III demonstrated consistent self-care progress (0.48-0.72 change/year).
- MACS level IV showed a non-significant upward trend in self-care (0.42 change/year).
- Children in MACS level V experienced a significant decline in self-care (-0.65 change/year).
Conclusions:
- Self-care attainment by late childhood correlates with manual ability severity in CP.
- The study highlights potential limitations of PEDI-CAT at the lower functional end.
- Recommendations include adding items to PEDI-CAT to mitigate floor effects in CP self-care assessment.
