Play and Be Happy? Leisure Participation and Quality of Life in School-Aged Children with Cerebral Palsy

Keiko Shikako-Thomas,Noémi Dahan-Oliel,Annette Majnemer,Peter Rosenbaum,Mary Law,Chantal Poulin,Rena Birnbaum,Michael Shevell

doi:10.1155/2012/387280

Abstract

The objective of this study was to examine the association between leisure participation and quality of life (QoL) in school-age children with cerebral palsy (CP). Leisure participation was assessed using the Children's Assessment of Participation and Enjoyment (CAPE) and QoL using the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL). Pearson correlation coefficients were calculated to examine the association between CAPE and PedsQL scores, and a multiple linear regression model was used to estimate QoL predictors. Sixty-three children (mean age 9.7 ± 2.1 years; 39 male) in GMFCS levels I–V were included. Intensity of participation in active-physical activities was significantly correlated with both physical (r = 0.34, P = 0.007) and psychosocial well-being (r = 0.31, P = 0.01). Intensity and diversity of participation in skill-based activities were negatively correlated with physical well-being (r = −0.39, P = 0.001, and r = −0.41, P = 0.001, resp.). Diversity and intensity of participation accounted for 32% (P = 0.002) of the variance for physical well-being and 48% (P < 0.001) when age and gross motor functioning were added. Meaningful and adapted leisure activities appropriate to the child's skills and preferences may foster QoL.

Highlights

Cerebral palsy (CP) is a broad term that describes a set of conditions that is associated with major physical impairments and other developmental deficits and arises in the early stages of brain development [1]
The objective of this study was to examine the association between leisure participation and quality of life (QoL) in schoolage children with cerebral palsy (CP)
Pearson correlation coefficients were calculated to examine the association between Children’s Assessment of Participation and Enjoyment (CAPE) and PedsQL scores, and a multiple linear regression model was used to estimate QoL predictors

Summary

Introduction

Cerebral palsy (CP) is a broad term that describes a set of conditions that is associated with major physical impairments and other developmental deficits and arises in the early stages of brain development [1]. CP is the most common type of physical disability affecting children in developed countries [2] with an estimated prevalence of 2.0 to 2.5/1000 children [3]. Despite the nonprogressive nature of the condition, the nature of functional impairments may change as the child develops. The type and distribution of movement disorder in CP may be categorized as spastic, dyskinetic, hypotonic, or mixed. Spastic patterns are the most common and may be further differentiated as diplegia, quadriplegia, hemiplegia, or monoplegia, relating to the limbs involved [6, 7]

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