Abstract
Background: Children with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities are at risk of pain. Aquatic-therapy is a pain relief treatment. There is no data concerning the effect of aquatic-therapy on pain among this population. The study reports on the effect of aquatic-therapy on pain-related behaviours among children with profound intellectual disability. Method: Fifteen caregivers and 39 children with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities (age: 4 - 18 years) participated in this prospective observational monocentric study. All children participated in a weekly 30-minute aquatic-therapy session. The Non-Communicating-Children’s Pain-Checklist-Postoperative- Version (NCCPC-PV) was used. Data were collected four times: twice up to two hours after an aquatic-therapy session and twice at times not following an aquatic-therapy session. Results: Results indicate a significant difference between the NCCPC-PV score for up to two hours after aquatic-therapy and the NCCPC-PV mean score when not following aquatic-therapy (t = 3.784, p 0.01). Conclusions: This is an initial evidence that aquatic-therapy helps reduce pain for children with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities.
Highlights
Children with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities are children with profound intellectual disabilities (IQ < 20), profound neuromotor dysfunctions and sometimes with sensory impairments
Children with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities are at risk of pain
Children with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities frequently have general health conditions associated with pain, such as seizure disorders, tube feeding and gastroesophageal reflux disease (Hogg, 1992; Böhmer et al, 1999; Zijlstra & Vlaskamp, 2005)
Summary
Children with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities are children with profound intellectual disabilities (IQ < 20), profound neuromotor dysfunctions and sometimes with sensory impairments. Sanduka apparent understanding of verbal language nor a symbolic interaction with objects (Nakken & Vlaskamp, 2007) These children are dependent on support from others in most aspects of their daily needs such as communication (Maes et al, 2007). Due to their motor disabilities and general health complications, these children are at risk of pain-related medical conditions (Breau et al, 2002, 2003; Cascella et al, 2019). In the current study we report on the effect of aquatic therapy on pain-related behaviours during daily care activities among children with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
