Investigation of the Effects of Diaphragm Exercises in Children With Cerebral Palsy

This research is a randomized controlled trial. Volunteers diagnosed with cerebral palsy who applied to Marmara University Pendik Training and Research Hospital will participate in the research. A voluntary consent form will be obtained from the participants at the beginning of the study. Demographic and clinical information form will be filled for each patient at the beginning of the study before clinical evaluations. Demographic and clinical information form; Age, gender, height, weight, body mass index (BMI), how many weeks were born, birth weight, drug use, disease history, number of siblings, neonatal intensive care hospitalization history, education level of parents will be questioned. The Gross Motor Functional Classification System (KMFSS) will be used to determine the functionality levels of the volunteers who will participate in the study. The following tests will be applied to all of the volunteers who will participate in our study before and after the intervention:

Respiratory Muscle Strength Measurement Thoracic Cage Mobility Assessment Pulmonary Function Tests Gross Motor Functional Measurement (part B) Children meeting the inclusion criteria will be randomly assigned to two groups. The control and research groups will receive an individualized conventional rehabilitation program for 45 minutes, 2 days a week for 8 weeks. In addition to conventional rehabilitation, manual diaphragmatic relaxation exercises and diaphragmatic breathing exercises will be applied to the children in the research group two days a week.

After 8 weeks of intervention and control group applications, the evaluations made at the beginning of the intervention will be repeated. The evaluations of the two groups will be compared statistically and the results will be interpreted.