Improving postural symmetry: The effectiveness of the CATCH (Combined Approach to Treatment for Children with Hemiplegia) protocol

Neurodevelopmental Treatment in Children With Cerebral Palsy: A Review of the Literature

This review aimed to explore the current literature on neurodevelopmental treatment (NDT) in children with cerebral palsy (CP). It also sought to determine what outcome measures are used to analyze the effect of NDT and whether these parameters are in line with the components of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF). The studies published in the English language between 2000 and 2023 were included based on a search of the databases PEDro, PubMed, and Google Scholar. Studies that examined the effect of NDT on children with CP were included. We found a total of 54 studies describing the effect of NDT in children with CP and these were included in this literature review. NDT in children with CP was found to have positive outcomes in 41 studies, while 13 studies had contradictory conclusions. Based on our findings, NDT is widely used for the rehabilitation of children with CP globally. The parameters used to assess the improvement mostly included gross motor function, balance, and postural control. The outcome measures used in studies are usually linked to body structure and function or activities domain of the ICF model by the World Health Organization (WHO). However, there is a scarcity of studies on the effect of NDT on participation, which should be the outcome of any rehabilitation program. There is scope for future research to demonstrate the effect of NDT on the participation of children with CP. Further studies with larger sample sizes and homogenous groups are recommended.

Goal attainment of children with cerebral palsy participating in multi-modal intervention

AIM

We aimed to determine if there was a significant difference in the functional performance of family requested daily tasks by a heterogeneous group of children with cerebral palsy following a programme of neuro-developmental treatment and in comparison to a randomly control group.

BACKGROUND

There are considerable challenges in conducting research into the functional performance of children with cerebral palsy. These include the highly heterogeneous nature of the population group, poor ecological and treatment fidelity, floor and ceiling effects in assessments, and insensitivity to the diverse functional needs and goals of children and families. Therapists and families identified functional goals and specified all aspects of performance details for each goal on five point goal attainment scales. Children with cerebral palsy were assigned randomly to treatment and alternate treatment groups. Children were video recorded attempting to perform targeted functional skills at pre-test, post-pest and follow-up. Videos were recorded and rated by expert clinicians blind to experimental condition.

RESULTS

After the first round of target intervention and alternate treatment had been completed, a significant difference in the goal attainment was noted between the control group and the treatment group at the post test, indicating that intervention was associated with a higher level of goal attainment than that attained by the control group (p = 0.0321) with a large effect size.

CONCLUSIONS

The study provided evidence of an effective way to investigate and to enhance the available motor capacity of children with moderate to severe cerebral palsy during participation in requested daily task performance, as reflected in goal attainment. Goal attainment scales were a reliable measure that was able to be used to detect changes in functional goals among a highly heterogeneous population group with individualized goals that were meaningful to each child and family.