Functional progressive resistance exercise versus eccentric muscle control in children with hemiplegia: a randomized controlled trial

Abstract

BackgroundHistorically, strength exercise in children with CP is not recommended, because it may develop spasticity, which results in difficulty with walking. But, recently increasing studies and systemic reviews have reported that strength exercise can promote muscle strength in children with CP with no negative impact on spasticity. The study is aiming to compare the effect of functional resistance exercise and functional eccentric training on dynamic balance and functional ability in children with hemiplegia. For this purpose, forty participating children diagnosed with spastic hemiplegia were included and their ages ranged from 6 to 13 years. They were randomly allocated into two groups: functional resistance exercise (group I) or eccentric muscle control exercise (group II). The training was conducted three times a week for 6 weeks for both groups. Each group received one of the interventions in addition to designed physical therapy programs. Functional ability and dynamic balance were measured before and after 6 weeks of the intervention by gross motor function measure and functional reach test.ResultsComparison between the two groups before treatment revealed no significant difference in all values of functional ability and dynamic balance. But comparison after treatment in values showed significant improvement in both groups with greater improvements in favor of group I (p < 0.01).ConclusionAdding both functional resistance exercise and eccentric muscle control exercise is beneficial for improving functional ability and dynamic balance with more recommendation for adding functional resistance exercise that showed more significant improvement than eccentric muscle control in children with hemiplegia.