A meta-analysis of diagnostic studies of cerebral palsy

Abstract

Objective To the diagnosis of cerebral palsy, a meta-analysis was performed to review the evidence from the included trials regarding the research progress of diagnostic studies children with cerebral palsy. Methods We used certain MeSH such as cerebral palsy、children、child、diagnosis etc.Research from Academic literature database chongqing Chinese and Technology Periodical Database wan journals and Academic、Chinese Biomedical Literature、Database(CBM)、EMBASE、MEDLINE、PubMed, and Cochrane Library Clinical controlled trial database by the computer, at the same time, we made the fully use of the literature review and manual search.We tried our best to research all literatures on diagnosing of cerebral palsy from articles and degree thesises which published at home and abroad from Januray 2013 to now, and traced all the references included in this study.We assessed the quality of qualified randomised controlled studies according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Then we performed the meta-analysis by Rev Man 5.1 provided by the Cochrane Collaboration. Due to heterogeneity of the included articles, we could not finish the appropriate forest plot. Therefore, descriptive analysis was performed in this study. Results Three articles were searched according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria.One retrospective study and two prospective studies were identified.The studies recruited a total of 851 patients.No age restrictions were imposed (ranging from six to sixty months). There were 606 patients with the neurological examinations, such as the Developmental Assessment of Young Children, the Bayley Scales of Infant Development exam. 240 children had gross motor function assessments which outcomes include gross motor function, Gross Motor Function Classification System, and so on. Children finished the diagnosis of cerebral palsy with the help of neuroimaging, such as a novel EEG-based brain mapping system、functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). This study described a large population-based study of early motor development and brain structure in a representative sample of preschool aged children with cerebral palsy. Descriptive analysis indicated that the diagnosis of cerebral palsy mainly focused on neurological examinations、gross motor function assessments and neuroimaging. Conclusions In order to better achieve the diagnosis of cerebral palsy, the combination of numbers of inspection methods are also essential, clearing patients′ medical history and paying much attention to high-risk populations. Besides, pediatric clinicians should research more latest domestic and foreign literatures on diagnosing of cerebral palsy, and learn from new research achivements in time so as to guide the treatment and prognosis of cerebral palsy. Key words: Cerebral palsy; Children; Diagnosis