Effects of Sensory Integration Therapy on Functional Mobility ,Balance and Gait Symmetry in Children With Spastic Hemiplegic CP :A Randomized Trial

This study is a randomized controlled trial evaluating whether Sensory Integration Therapy (SIT), when combined with conventional physiotherapy, produces greater improvements in gait symmetry, functional mobility, and balance than conventional physiotherapy alone in children aged 5-12 years with spastic hemiplegic cerebral palsy (CP).

Thirty-two participants will be recruited using non-probability consecutive sampling and then randomly allocated into two equal groups. Group A (experimental) will receive SIT (25 minutes) followed by conventional physiotherapy (20 minutes) per session. Group B (control) will receive conventional physiotherapy alone (45 minutes) per session. Both groups will attend 3 sessions per week for 8 weeks. Treatment content will progress in complexity over four two-week blocks, moving from foundational sensory and mobility activities to advanced, community-level functional tasks.

Outcomes will be assessed using three standardized tools: the Gross Motor Function Measure (GMFM-88), the Pediatric Balance Scale (PBS), and the Edinburgh Visual Gait Score (EVGS), a video-based observational gait analysis tool particularly suited to detecting asymmetry between the affected and unaffected limbs in hemiplegic CP. Assessments will be conducted at baseline and following the intervention period.

This study addresses a gap in the literature, as most prior research on SIT in CP has focused on spastic diplegic subtypes, with comparatively little evidence specific to spastic hemiplegic CP or to gait symmetry as a primary outcome. Data will be analyzed using SPSS, with a mixed-design repeated-measures ANOVA used to evaluate the effects of time, group, and the group-by-time interaction, followed by post hoc analysis where indicated.