Children with cerebral palsy living in a resource constrained community: the efficacy of a thumb opponens splint - a case study

Abstract

Cerebral Palsy is a common diagnosis in childhood and is often associated with upper limb impairments affecting hand function and participation in daily activities including personal management. A case study based research design was used with a sample of five children with spastic hemiplegic CP at Tambo Memorial Hospital to evaluate the efficacy of a thumb abductor splint for thumb in palm deformity in a resource constrained environment. The children involved in the study continued to receive their typical monthly occupational therapy service as well as any other therapy services they were involved in the time of the study. They were all splinted with a soft neoprene thumb abductor splint which they were advised to wear during participation in functional activities. A range of outcome measures were used to assess their hand function and functional performance before and after splint application over the three month data collection period including the Movement ABC and the Pediatric Evaluation of Disability Impairment scale. In spite of the small sample size and the limited clinically significant findings of the study - a potential benefit to wearing the splint during functional activity participation was highlighted in a resource constrained environment.