FUNCTIONAL ABILITIES IN DYSKINETIC CEREBRAL PALSY CHILDREN BETWEEN AGE 5-12 YEARS

Abstract

Back ground: Dyskinetic cerebral palsy (DCP) is an involuntary repetitive movement disorder characterized by alternating state of muscular hypertonia and hypotonia due to lesion in basal ganglia. Objective: To describe the functional abilities DCP subjects aged between 5-12 years. Methods: An observational case series on 48 children from special schools was conducted by convenient sampling. All diagnosed patients of DCP aged between 5-12 years with I.Q levels 70-79 were included and the children who had undergone any surgical procedure or on medication were excluded. Informed consent was taken from the parents of the children. Subjects were assessed with the help of functional independence measure (FIM) scale having validity (0.98) (1). The study variables were presented in the form of descriptive statistics. Results: The mean age of 48 participants was 7.21 with the standard deviation of 2.143. Five subjects required total assistance (level I) those were 0-25% independent, 36 subjects required maximal assistance (level II) those were 25-50% independent and 7 subjects required moderate assistance (level II) those were 50-75% independent in their daily tasks according to FIM. Conclusion: DCP patients require maximum assistance and were dependent on their caregivers for performing daily living tasks. Key terms: Dyskinetic Cerebral Palsy, functional independence measure