Gross motor function, surgical intervention, and academic performance in children with cerebral palsy receiving physiotherapy at a special needs school

Abstract

Background: Cerebral palsy (CP) is the most common cause of childhood disability globally. Children with CP often undergo surgical intervention. Academic performance and possible functional associations in children with CP in South Africa has not been described. Objectives: To describe and compare the gross motor and academic performance of children with CP who received physiotherapy. To describe the surgical interventions performed, and to investigate associations between gross motor function, surgical intervention and academic performance. Methods: This five-year retrospective descriptive cohort study, is from a single centre. Records for 67 participants across all GMFCS levels were reviewed. Ethical clearance and informed consent were obtained as appropriate. Data, including demographics, clinical history, Gross Motor Function Measure and academic scores were collected for the time period 2015-2019. Descriptive statistics were used to summarise the data. T-tests were used to determine changes over time. Pearson’s correlation was used to investigate associations. ANOVA was used to assess change over time. Results: Sixty-four percent of participants were male; half were born preterm. The predominant subtype was spastic (57%), with bilateral involvement in three-quarters of participants (40% diplegia; 34.5% quadriplegia). There was no statistical significance between the occurrence of surgical intervention on gross motor performance, (p=0.474), nor between GMFCS levels and academic performance. There was a positive effect of statistical significance noted in year five for academic performance vs surgery (p=0.016). Conclusion: There was no correlation between surgical intervention, gross motor function and academic performance determined in this study. Further research is recommended to evaluate these relationships.