[P2-57] The effects of severity of motor impairments on changes in daily activity performance in children with cerebral palsy
[Introduction]: Cerebral palsy (CP) has a multifaceted impact on children’s motor functioning, which in turn adversely affect children’s activities of daily living (ADL). Examining the change in daily activity performance during the periods in children with CP is essential. However, no studies have examined the change in daily activity performance in children with CP with different severity of motor impairments. This study aimed to examine the effects of severity of gross motor impairments on change in daily activity performance during 6 months in children with CP.
[Methodology]: A total of 82 children aged 2–12 years participated in this study. The daily function was assessed by Functional Independence Measure for Children (WeeFIM) during 6 months. It consists of 3 subscales: self-care (WeeFIM-SC), mobility (WeeFIM-M), and cognition (WeeFIM-C). We used ANCOVA to examine the effects of mild motor impairments (Gross Motor Function Classification System, GMFCS I-II) and moderate to severe motor impairments (GMFCS III-V) on changes in daily activity performance.
[Results]: The results showed significant group effects on the WeeFIM-SC ( F=4.3, p = .041) and the WeeFIM-M ( F = 15.48, p < .001). That is, children with mild motor impairments made more improvements than children with moderate to severe motor impairments on self-care and mobility domains during 6 months. There are no differences between the groups on the WeeFIM-C ( F = 0.41, p = 0.52) and the WeeFIM-total ( F = 3.46, p = .067).
[Conclusions]: The findings in this study may provide evidence to inform clinician’s decision making processes when assessing daily function for children with CP, especially on self-care and mobility domains.
[Methodology]: A total of 82 children aged 2–12 years participated in this study. The daily function was assessed by Functional Independence Measure for Children (WeeFIM) during 6 months. It consists of 3 subscales: self-care (WeeFIM-SC), mobility (WeeFIM-M), and cognition (WeeFIM-C). We used ANCOVA to examine the effects of mild motor impairments (Gross Motor Function Classification System, GMFCS I-II) and moderate to severe motor impairments (GMFCS III-V) on changes in daily activity performance.
[Results]: The results showed significant group effects on the WeeFIM-SC ( F=4.3, p = .041) and the WeeFIM-M ( F = 15.48, p < .001). That is, children with mild motor impairments made more improvements than children with moderate to severe motor impairments on self-care and mobility domains during 6 months. There are no differences between the groups on the WeeFIM-C ( F = 0.41, p = 0.52) and the WeeFIM-total ( F = 3.46, p = .067).
[Conclusions]: The findings in this study may provide evidence to inform clinician’s decision making processes when assessing daily function for children with CP, especially on self-care and mobility domains.