Infants and Toddlers With Moderate-To-Severe Cerebral Palsy Receive Very Low Doses of In-Person Rehabilitation
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View abstract on PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.Infants and toddlers with cerebral palsy (CP) receive insufficient rehabilitation. The amount of physical therapy (PT) provided does not correlate with age or motor function, indicating a need for personalized early intervention plans.
Area Of Science
- Pediatric rehabilitation
- Developmental pediatrics
- Neurology
Background
- Optimizing developmental outcomes for children with cerebral palsy (CP) relies on adequate rehabilitation service dosage.
- Current understanding of in-person rehabilitation doses for infants and toddlers with CP is limited.
- The relationship between rehabilitation dose and functional outcomes in this population requires further investigation.
Purpose Of The Study
- To quantify the dose of in-person rehabilitation services received by infants and toddlers diagnosed with CP.
- To examine the association between physical therapy (PT) dose, patient age, and gross motor function.
Main Methods
- A cohort of 53 participants aged 6 months to 2 years with moderate-to-severe CP (Gross Motor Function Classification System levels III-V) were enrolled.
- Parent-reported outpatient and early intervention PT, occupational therapy, and speech-language pathology service data were collected over 6 months.
- Monthly service doses were calculated, and motor function was assessed using the Gross Motor Function Measure (88-item).
Main Results
- Participants received minimal doses of therapy across all disciplines, averaging less than 9 total in-person hours per month.
- Mean monthly rehabilitation service hours per discipline ranged from 0.4 to 3.0.
- No statistically significant relationship was observed between the total PT hours received and the child's age or gross motor function score.
Conclusions
- Infants and toddlers with moderate-to-severe CP are receiving low doses of in-person rehabilitation services.
- Current physical therapy dosing does not appear to be tailored to the child's age or functional severity.
- There is a critical need for more individualized, intensive, and family-centered rehabilitation strategies in early childhood for children with CP.
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