Ambulation Activity of Children with CP

A recent study assessed the ambulation activity of 62 children with cerebral palsy (ages 7-13).  The children had spastic cerebral palsy with GMFCS levels I-III.  Ambulation activity was measured for one week.  The following results were recorded:

• children took more steps during week days than on weekends
• higher GMFCS, age and bilateral CP were associated with lower ambulatory activity on school days
• bilateral CP, age and no sports participation were associated with lower ambulatory activity on the weekend

When the data was corrected for body height, this decreased the association with age.

The researchers recommend that interventions should focus on increasing ambulatory activity on weekends for children with bilateral spastic cerebral palsy.

Reference:     VAN Wely L, Becher JG, Balemans AC, Dallmeijer AJ. Ambulatory activity of children with cerebral palsy: which characteristics are important? Dev Med Child Neurol. 2012 Mar 13. doi: 10.1111/j.1469-8749.2012.04251.x. [Epub ahead of print]