Journal of pediatric rehabilitation medicine最新文献

Purpose: This study aimed to explore the feasibility of using time-matched uniaxial accelerometers for measuring movement in daily life in children with cerebral palsy (CP) before and after botulinum toxin injections.

Methods: This observational study of clinical care with a pre-post design was set in the home and school environment. Participants included eleven children (4-13 years of age) with CP (GMFCS I-III). The children wore uniaxial accelerometers (ActiGraph, model GT1M) for 4 days on both wrists, the right ankle and around the waist before, 3 weeks and 3 months after BoNT-A injections in the legs. Five children also got BoNT-A in the most affected arm. All injections were given according to clinical indications and routine. The accelerometers were all time-matched to define ambulation, arm swing, voluntary activity of arms, and bimanual activity. The feasibility of wearing accelerometers with this setup was evaluated. A linear mixed model was used for analysis of the percentage time and at which intensity the different activities were performed. The confidence interval demonstrated any difference between the dominant and non-dominant arm.

Results: Time-matching of accelerometers placed on both wrists, the waist, and one ankle is a feasible method of registering ambulation, arm swing during gait, and arm movements while not ambulating. Before injections, the children spent 5.6% of their time ambulating. This value declined to 3.9% at 3 months. Contrary to clinical goals, arm movement did not increase after injecting the most affected arm with BoNT-A, however, injections may have decreased mirror movements, which are often bothersome for the child.

Conclusion: A time-matched 4-accelerometer set-up is feasible in children with cerebral palsy. A future study including time-matched multi-axial accelerometers on all four limbs, could provide important information on the effect of BoNT-A in daily life.

Purpose: The demands of caring for children with cerebral palsy (CWCP) may lead to burnout among the informal caregivers of these children. However, this subject area has not received significant research attention in Nigeria. The primary aim of this study was to investigate the association between burnout level of informal caregivers of CWCP and the motor performance of the CWCP. The association between burnout level of the informal caregivers and selected clinical variables of CWCP was also investigated.

Methods: This is a descriptive study of 75 consecutively-sampled informal caregivers (34.76±8.7 years) of CWCP and an equal number of their CWCP. Burnout level of the caregivers and motor performance of the CWCP were assessed using the Copenhagen Burnout Inventory (CBI) and Gross Motor Function Classification System Family Questionnaire (GMFCSFQ) respectively. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyse results at alpha = 0.05.

Results: There was a statistically significant positive association between the CBI scores and the GMFCSFQ scores (p < 0.05). Age of the CWCP as well as type and topography of the cerebral palsy were not significantly associated with the caregivers' burnout level. Similarly, the age and sex of the caregivers had no statistically significant association with their burnout level (p > 0.05).

Conclusion: Caregiving for children with lower motor performance is associated with higher burnout among caregivers. This may impact negatively on the overall health of the caregivers and the quality of care for the CWCP.

Proximal humerus fractures in pediatric patients are uncommon. This is a case report of a 17-year-old patient with Duchenne muscular dystrophy who sustained an occult proximal humerus fracture. The patient was on chronic steroids and had a history of vertebral and long bone fractures. He was using a wheeled mobility device on public transportation at the time of injury. He had a negative radiograph, but an MRI revealed a right proximal humerus fracture. He had decreased mobilization in the affected extremity, which limited activities of daily living including driving his power wheelchair. After six weeks of conservative management, he returned to his baseline level of activity. It is important to recognize that chronic steroid use adversely affects bone health, and fractures may be missed on initial imaging. To ensure adequate safety, providers, patients, and their families should be educated on the Americans with Disabilities Act guidelines for using wheeled mobility devices on public transportation.

Purpose: Mothers who have had a pregnancy affected by spina bifida are advised to take 4-5 mg/day folic acid pills to prevent recurrence. The folic acid prescription pattern was examined for high-risk mothers whose children received spina bifida surgery in an urban Ethiopian hospital.

Methods: Data were analyzed from a large Ethiopian urban tertiary care hospital that provided spina bifida care. General practitioners recorded 5 mg/day folic acid prescriptions administered to mothers of infants with spina bifida born between January 2019 and June 2022.

Results: Among 500 baby-mother pairs, 340 (68%) received a 120-day prescription for 5 mg/day folic acid pills. Of these 340 mothers, 331 (97%) received their folic acid prescription at their child's first or second patient encounter. Almost all mothers (94%) had documentation of only one prescription for the study duration. The percentage of mothers receiving at least one prescription varied by the baby's year of birth (2019:75%; 2020:92%; 2021:46%; Jan 2022 -June 2022:79%).

Conclusion: This prioritization of spina bifida recurrence prevention demonstrates feasibility for other healthcare centers in low-income countries. Sustained funds to provide women with free folic acid pills can favor high compliance and uptake of this prevention intervention.

Purpose: The study sought to examine the content validity, the intra- and inter-rater reliability, and concurrent validity of the Japanese versions of the Manual Ability Classification System, the Communication Function Classification System, and the Eating and Drinking Ability Classification System, and representation of the distribution of the levels of each classification systems in comparison to the Gross Motor Function Classification System levels for children with cerebral palsy.

Methods: The Japanese versions were developed using the back-translation method. For content validity, professionals were asked to complete a questionnaire including items on the appropriateness of the translation, its validity, and distinctions among levels. For reliability, professionals used the three classification systems twice in children with cerebral palsy. For concurrent validity, relationships among the four classification systems were examined by correlation analyses.

Results: Participants included twenty-one professionals and 290 children with cerebral palsy (mean age: 12 years two months, female: 132, male: 158). The content validity was generally good. For reliability, the lower limit of the 95% confidence interval for the intraclass correlation coefficients was greater than 0.89, and the correlation coefficients were high.

Conclusion: The results of this study showed good reliability and validity of the functional classification systems in Japan.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the reliability and discriminant validity of the Quantitative Timed up and Go (QTUG) in typically developing (TD) children and children with cerebral palsy (CP).

Methods: Twenty-eight TD children and 8 with CP (GMFCS I-II) completed 3 TUG trials while wearing QTUG sensors. Test-retest reliability and discriminative ability were examined for the 57 constituent parameters of the TUG. Relationships between age and these parameters were also examined.

Results: Forty-four of the parameters demonstrated moderate to excellent test-retest reliability, with measures of angular velocity being the most reliable. Twenty-six parameters were different between TD children and those with CP, and twenty-eight gait parameters demonstrated correlations with age, further supporting its discriminative ability.

Conclusion: The QTUG is a clinically feasible tool that is capable of both reliably measuring and discriminating many of the movement parameters with the TUG mobility task in TD children and those with CP GMFCS I-II. The results of the present study provide preliminary evidence that the QTUG can discriminate between children on several of the gait parameters within the TUG.

Purpose: The current study aimed to explore Gross Motor Function Measure (GMFM) profiles among children with cerebral palsy (CP) at various Gross Motor Function Classification System (GMFCS) levels in a low-resource setting.

Methods: Ambulatory capacity of children with CP was classified using GMFCS levels. Functional ability of all participants was measured using GMFM-88. Seventy-one ambulatory children with CP (61% males), were studied after signed informed consent was obtained from parents and assent from children older than 12 years.

Results: Children with CP in a low-resource setting had 12-44% lower GMFM scores in dimensions of standing, walking, running, and jumping with reference to children from high-resource settings with similar ambulatory capacity reported previously. The most affected components across various GMFCS levels were 'sitting on a large and small bench from floor,' 'arm-free squatting,' 'half-kneeling,' 'kneel-walking,' and 'single-limb hop'.

Conclusion: Knowledge of GMFM profiles can guide clinicians and policymakers in low-resource settings for strategic rehabilitation planning and extend the focus of rehabilitation from restoration of body structure and function to the wider domain of social participation in leisure, sport, work, and the community at large. Additionally, providing tailored rehabilitation based on a profile of motor function can ensure an economically, environmentally, and socially sustainable future.