Interest of children with unilateral spastic cerebral palsy in bimanual daily activities

Abstract

Background: Many bimanual activities are challenging for children with unilateral spastic cerebral palsy (USCP).Aims: To investigate hand use by children with USCP in daily activities of their interest.Material e methods: Sample included twenty children with USCP, aged 8 to 14 years old. Participants identified bimanual activities of their interest and no interest. Children’s performance on these activities were videotaped. Videos were coded according to the affected extremity’s forms and effectiveness of use, caregiver provision and types of assistance, and child’s satisfaction. The relative proportions of each parameter were compared using the signed-rank test, considering the time spent in activities of interest and no interest.Results: We analyzed 116 activities. We found effects of interest in children’s satisfaction (p = 0.003) and on the type of assistance (p = 0.03). Specifically, children demonstrated longer periods of satisfaction performing activities of their interest and caregiver physical assistance was provided for longer periods of time in activities of no interest. There were no effects on the other parameters.Conclusions: A model that illustrates the impact of a child’s interest on the performance of daily bimanual activities is presented, grounded in our results and in the literature.