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Upper Limbs Assessment in Children With Cerebral Palsy

Completed
Conditions
Cerebral Palsy
Children
Interventions
Other: Assessment
Registration Number
NCT01988844
Lead Sponsor
Universidad de Granada
Brief Summary

Cerebral palsy is the leading cause of physical disability among children. Manual dexterity and upper limbs functionality is limited between these children. The purpose of this study is to stablish a specific profile of school children with cerebral palsy based on the upper limbs assessment.

Detailed Description

While the rates of perinatal and infant mortality have declined toward the end of the last century,the rate of cerebral palsy has remained at 2 to 2.5 per 1,000 live births. A high percentage of children with cerebral palsy have difficulty keeping up with the handwriting demands at school. The neurological impairments in children with cerebral palsy frequently limit the functionality of these children taken in to account the upper limbs variables. It should be interesting to describe a clinical profile based on this assessment.

Recruitment & Eligibility

Status
COMPLETED
Sex
All
Target Recruitment
31
Inclusion Criteria
  • Cerebral palsy diagnosis.
  • Aged between 6 and 10 years old.
  • Children attending a school.
Exclusion Criteria
  • Severe cognitive impairment.

Study & Design

Study Type
OBSERVATIONAL
Study Design
Not specified
Arm && Interventions
GroupInterventionDescription
Children with cerebral palsyAssessmentChildren diagnosed with cerebral palsy are included in this group. An assessment and an intervention will be carried out.
Primary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
Pediatric Evaluation of Disability Inventory (PEDI)baseline

This inventory assess the key functional capabilities and performance in children between six months to seven years old. Three subscales are observed: self-care, mobility and social function. It helps you to identify areas of new functional intervention. Also, it is used to identify functional deficits.

Upper limbs functionalitybaseline

The functionality is measured using the Abilhand-kids questionnaire. This questionnaire was designed to cover the widest range of children's manual activities including both unimanual and bimanual activities. For each question, the children and their parents were asked to provide their perceived difficulty to perform the activity on a three-level scale: impossible (0), difficult (1), or easy (2).

Secondary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
Executive functionbaseline

The executive function is measured using the Porteus Maze Test. It consists of a series of mazes graded in difficulty and standardized for application to children from three years old.

Handwriting assessmentbaseline

The handwriting ability is measured with the Handwriting without tears method. It is used to assess memory, letter size,space and movement control.

Manual dexteritybaseline

Manual dexterity is measured using the 9-hole peg test. This is a brief, standardized, quantitative test of upper extremity function. Both the dominant and non-dominant hands are tested twice. The patient is seated at a table with a small container holding nine pegs. The patient picks up the nine pegs one at a time as quickly as possible, puts them in the nine holes, and, once they are in the holes, removes them again as quickly as possible one at a time, replacing them into the shallow container. The time is recorded.

Range of motionbaseline

The range of motion in upper limbs is measured with a standard goniometer at different levels: elbow, wrist and fingers.

Upper limbs strengthbaseline

The strength is evaluated using a digital dynamometer. The strength is measured in Newtons.

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

Department of Physical Therapy

🇪🇸

Granada, Spain

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