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The Impact of Whole Body Vibration on Muscle Tone, and Sensory Motor Function in Children with Spastic Diplegic
Hisham Mohamed Hussein1,2, Norah Dakheel3, Hand Zamel M Alshammari4
1Department of Physical Therapy, College of Applied Medical Sciences, University of Ha'il, Ha'il, Saudi Arabia.
Insights
Whole-body vibration (WBV) combined with physical therapy improved function, strength, and sensorimotor integration in children with spastic diplegic cerebral palsy (CP). Muscle tone showed no significant improvement. Both therapies are beneficial for treating spastic diplegia.
Area of Science:
- Clinical Trial Research
- Rehabilitation Medicine
- Pediatric Neurology
Background:
- Children with spastic diplegic cerebral palsy (CP) often experience impaired muscle tone, function, and sensorimotor abilities.
- Whole-body vibration (WBV) therapy is a potential intervention to address these deficits, but research is limited.
- This study investigates the efficacy of WBV as an adjunct to standard physical therapy for children with CP.
Observation:
- A single-blind randomized controlled trial was conducted with 54 children diagnosed with spastic diplegic CP.
- Participants were assigned to either a WBV group (standard physical therapy + WBV) or a control group (standard physical therapy only) for four weeks.
- Muscle tone, function, strength, and sensorimotor integration were assessed before and after the intervention period.
Findings:
- The WBV group demonstrated statistically significant improvements in muscle function, strength, and sensorimotor integration compared to the control group (p < 0.05).
- Muscle tone did not show a significant improvement in the WBV group (p = 0.10).
- Within-group analyses revealed significant positive effects for most measures in the WBV group, except for spasticity and a trace assessment of function.
Implications:
- Combining WBV with conventional physical therapy offers significant benefits for improving functional outcomes in children with spastic diplegic CP.
- While WBV may not directly enhance muscle tone, its positive impact on other functional parameters suggests its value in pediatric rehabilitation.
- The findings support the integration of WBV into physical therapy regimens for managing spastic diplegia in children.
Purpose:
Children with diplegic cerebral palsy (CP) have limited muscle tone, function, and sensorimotor function. Whole-body vibration (WBV) has been suggested to enhance muscle tone and function in diplegic CP. However, there were limited studies involving the effect of WBV on the tone and function of diplegic CP; we aimed to investigate the effect of WBV on muscle tone, function, and sensorimotor function in children with CP.
Patients And Methods:
This is a single-blind randomized controlled clinical trial involving 54 spastic diplegic CP child recruited from local rehabilitation centers in the Ha'il region of Saudi Arabia, they were randomly divided into the WBV group (n = 28 with mean age of 9.47±1.92), which received standard physical therapy and WBV therapy, and the control group (n = 26 with mean age of 9.73±1.62) they received standard physical therapy three time per week for four weeks; Muscle tone, function, strength and Sensory motor integration were evaluated pre and post interventions.
Results:
At baseline, the two groups had no significant differences. After treatment, the measured outcomes (function, muscle strength, and sensory motor integration) showed statistically significant differences (p < 0.05). However, muscle tone was not substantially improved (p = 0.10). In addition, within-group comparisons demonstrated substantial effects (p < 0.05) except Spasticity, Function, and trace assessment of the control group, where the p-values were(0.33, 0.06, and 0.54, respectively).
Conclusions:
According to the findings in this study, both conventional physical therapy and WBV are beneficial in treating spastic diplegia.
