Arm hand skilled performance in cerebral palsy: activity preferences and their movement components

Background: Assessment of arm-hand use is very important in children with cerebral palsy (CP) who encounter arm-hand problems. To determine validity and reliability of new instruments to assess actual performance, a set of standardized test situations including activities of daily living (ADL) is required. This study gives information with which such a set for upper extremity skill research may be fine-tuned, relative to a specific research question. Aim of this study is to a) identify upper extremity related ADL children with CP want to improve on, b) determine the 10 most preferred goals of children with CP, and c) identify movement components of all goals identified. Method: The Canadian Occupational Performance Measure was used to identify upper extremity-related ADL preferences (goals) of 53 children with CP encountering arm-hand problems (mean age 9 +/- 4.5 year). Goals were ranked based on importance attributed to each goal and the number of times a goal was mentioned, resulting in a gross list with goals. Additionally, two studies were performed, i.e. study A to determine the 10 most preferred goals for 3 age groups (2.5-5 years; 6-11 years, 12-19 years), based on the total preference score, and study B to identify movement components, like reaching and grasping, of all goals identified for both the leading and the assisting arm-hand. Results: Seventy-two goals were identified. The 10 most preferred goals differed with age, changing from dressing and leisure-related goals in the youngest children to goals regarding personal care and eating for children aged 6-11 years. The oldest children preferred goals regarding eating, personal care and computer use. The movement components 'positioning', 'reach', 'grasp', and 'hold' were present in most tasks. 'Manipulating' was more important for the leading arm-hand, whereas 'fixating' was more important for the assisting arm-hand. Conclusion: This study gave insight into the preferences regarding ADL children with CP would like to improve on, and the movement components characterizing these activities. This information can be used to create a set of standardized test situations, which can be used to assess the validity and reliability of new measurement instruments to gauge actual arm-hand skilled performance

Observational skills assessment score: reliability in measuring amount and quality of use of the affected hand in unilateral cerebral palsy

BACKGROUND: The Observational Skills Assessment Score (OSAS) measures amount and quality of use of the affected hand in children with unilateral Cerebral Palsy (CP) in bimanual activities and could therefore be a valuable addition to existing assessment tools. The OSAS consists of tasks that are age appropriate and require use of the affected hand. METHODS: To measure the agreement and reliability of the OSAS a convenience sample of two groups of 16 children with unilateral spastic CP (2.5-6 and 12–16 years old), performed age specific bimanual tasks in 2 measurement sessions. Three experienced raters took part in testing and 8 in scoring. Intra class correlation (ICC) values for intra- and inter-rater reliability, and the mean and standard deviation of the differences between measurements were calculated. For test-retest reliability beside ICC scores, Smallest Detectable Differences (SDDs) were calculated in 16 older and 10 younger children. RESULTS: Generally, there seems to be good agreement between repeated measurements of the OSAS, as indicated by the small SDDs on most scales for quality of movement, compared to the range of their scales. This indicates potentially good sensitivity to change if used for patient evaluation purposes. The exceptions were the ‘quality of reach’ score for all tasks, and all quality scores for the stacking blocks task for the young children. As used in the present study, the OSAS has good discriminative capacity within patient populations as indicated by the high ICCs for most quality scores. Measuring the amount of use does not seem to be useful for either discrimination or evaluation. CONCLUSION: In general, the OSAS seems to be a reliable tool for assessing the quality of use of the affected hand in bimanual activities in younger and older children with unilateral CP. Some modifications may improve its usefulness and efficiency

Re-engaging disaffected pupils in learning: insights for policy and practice

Characteristics and outcome measures at baseline older age group 7–12 years old. (DOC 53 kb

The Effect of Bimanual Intensive Functional Training on Somatosensory Hand Function in Children with Unilateral Spastic Cerebral Palsy: An Observational Study

(1) Background: Next to motor impairments, children with unilateral spastic cerebral palsy (CP) often experience sensory impairments. Intensive bimanual training is well known for improving motor abilities, though its effect on sensory impairments is less known. (2) Objective: To investigate whether bimanual intensive functional therapy without using enriched sensory materials improves somatosensory hand function. (3) Methods: A total of twenty-four participants with CP (12–17 years of age) received 80–90 h of intensive functional training aimed at improving bimanual performance in daily life. Somatosensory hand function was measured before training, directly after training, and at six months follow-up. Outcome measures were: proprioception, measured by thumb and wrist position tasks and thumb localization tasks; vibration sensation; tactile perception; and stereognosis. (4) Results: Next to improving on their individual treatment goals, after training, participants also showed significant improvements in the perception of thumb and wrist position, vibration sensation, tactile perception, and stereognosis of the more affected hand. Improvements were retained at six months follow-up. Conversely, proprioception measured by the thumb localization tasks did not improve after training. (5) Conclusions: Intensive functional bimanual training without environmental tactile enrichment may improve the somatosensory function of the more affected hand in children with unilateral spastic CP

The Effect of Bimanual Intensive Functional Training on Somatosensory Hand Function in Children with Unilateral Spastic Cerebral Palsy: An Observational Study

(1) Background: Next to motor impairments, children with unilateral spastic cerebral palsy (CP) often experience sensory impairments. Intensive bimanual training is well known for improving motor abilities, though its effect on sensory impairments is less known. (2) Objective: To investigate whether bimanual intensive functional therapy without using enriched sensory materials improves somatosensory hand function. (3) Methods: A total of twenty-four participants with CP (12–17 years of age) received 80–90 h of intensive functional training aimed at improving bimanual performance in daily life. Somatosensory hand function was measured before training, directly after training, and at six months follow-up. Outcome measures were: proprioception, measured by thumb and wrist position tasks and thumb localization tasks; vibration sensation; tactile perception; and stereognosis. (4) Results: Next to improving on their individual treatment goals, after training, participants also showed significant improvements in the perception of thumb and wrist position, vibration sensation, tactile perception, and stereognosis of the more affected hand. Improvements were retained at six months follow-up. Conversely, proprioception measured by the thumb localization tasks did not improve after training. (5) Conclusions: Intensive functional bimanual training without environmental tactile enrichment may improve the somatosensory function of the more affected hand in children with unilateral spastic CP.</jats:p