Itinéraire thérapeutique des enfants atteints de paralysie cérébrale admis en médecine physique et de réadaptation (MPR) à Abidjan en 2018

Objective

To analyze the different stages of the medical and rehabilitation follow-up of children with cerebral palsy (CP) before their admission to the PMR department.

Methods

Cross-sectional study analyzing the care pathway of 58 children with PC before their admission to the MPR department of the Yopougon University Hospital over the period from June to September 2018.

Results

The majority of children with male CP (58.6%) were the first or second child in the siblings. The parents lived as a couple (84%) and resided in the city of Abidjan (87%) but the children lived with both parents in 77.6%. Diagnosis made in a university hospital (46.5%) or in a clinic private (29.3%) by specialists in pediatrics (53.4%) and neurology (34.5%). The time to diagnosis was more than 6 months in 55.2 %. These parents used several therapies: medical (62.07%), traditional (31.03%) and spiritual (6.90%). The most used therapeutic route was medical-traditional-medical (29.3%). The factors influencing the choice of route were the parents’ culture and beliefs (75.9%) and family and economic factors.

Conclusion

Need to develop a precise therapeutic circuit for children with CP.