Recent research compared two groups of children with cerebral palsy with and without Kinesio® taping. Fifteen children with cerebral palsy (Levels III, IV and V) received Kinesio® taping and physical therapy for 12 weeks. The control group of 15 children, again Levels III, IV and V, only received physical therapy for 12 weeks. Initially and […]
Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology published research on mirror therapy in children with hemiplegia. Mirror therapy involves the use of a mirror to provide the illusion that the paretic arm is functional. This type of therapy has been used with adults who have had a stroke. For this pilot study, 15 children with hemiplegia were […]
Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology published research on the use of a wrist and thumb brace on bimanual activities in children with hemiplegia cerebral palsy. Twenty five children with spastic hemiplegia cerebral palsy (with mild to moderate hand deformity) performed bimanual activities wearing a brace and not wearing a brace. Assessment results indicated that when […]
Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation published research on the function of parents and their children with cerebral palsy. Fifty one parents completed surveys on the care of their children with cerebral palsy from 5-18 years old. In addition, the GMFCS, Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory, Parenting Stress Index, Family Environment Scale, relationship dimension and Self-Efficacy for […]
Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology published research on age related changes in 184 children (age range 4 -16 years old) with cerebral palsy. The children were initially evaluated with the Gross Motor Function Measure (GMFM), Pediatric Evaluation of Disability Inventory (PEDI) and Lifestyle Assessment Questionnaire – Cerebral Palsy (LAQ-CP) and again 2 years and 7 […]
The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery published research comparing three examination tests to determine the degree of hip flexion contractures in children with cerebral palsy. Thirty six subjects withe cerebral palsy and 37 subjects without cerebral palsy were evaluated with the Thomas Test, the Staheli test (prone hip extension test) and hamstring shift test. […]
The November issue of Physical and Occupational Therapy in Pediatrics published a review on physical therapy interventions for school aged children with cerebral palsy. Thirty four articles were reviewed with strength training being the most studied intervention. The strength training intervention resulted in significant improvements in muscle strength but not necessarily in function. Improvements in […]
The Journal of Child Neurology published research on the use of injections of Botox A in the upper extremities of children with cerebral palsy. A retrospective study was done on 30 children (average age 9.9 years old +/-5 years) who received 1-5 treatments in various muscles of the upper limbs (pronator teres, flexor carpi radialis, […]
Physical Therapy published research that compared two interventions to improve postural control in sitting between two groups of infants with cerebral palsy. Thirty five infants were assigned to either a home program or a perceptual motor intervention. The infants on the home program has a mean age of 15.5 months and were seen 1x/week for […]
A recent article in Clinical Rehabilitation compared two groups of children with cerebral palsy. Seventy eight children (ages 66-146 months) with spastic cerebral palsy (gross motor functional levels II and III) were divided into two groups. One group received motor learning coaching for 3x/week, one hour sessions, over three months. The other group received the […]