Abstract
Objective: To evaluate the potential of deliberately light interpersonal touch (IPT) for reducing excessive head and trunk sway during self-paced walking in children and adolescents with cerebral palsy (CP).
Design: Quasi-experimental, proof-of-concept study with between-groups comparison.
Setting: Ambulant care facility, community center.
Participants: 26 individuals with CP (spastic and ataxic; GMFCS I-III; mean=9.8y; f=11, m=15) and in 39 typically developed (TD) children and adolescents (mean=10.0y; f=23, m=16).
Interventions: IPT applied by a therapist to locations at the back and the head.
Main Outcome Measures: As primary outcomes head and trunk sway during self-paced walking were assessed by inertial measurement units. Secondary outcomes were average step length and gait speed.
Results: CP group: apex and occiput IPT reduced head velocity sway compared to thoracic IPT (both p=0.04) irrespective of individuals’ specific clinical symptoms. TD group: all testing conditions reduced head velocity sway compared to walking alone (all p≤0.03) as well as in apex and occiput IPT compared to paired walking (both p≤0.02).
Conclusions: Deliberately light IPT at the apex of the head alters control of head sway in children and adolescents with CP. The effect of IPT varies as a function of contact location and acts differently in TD individuals.
Design: Quasi-experimental, proof-of-concept study with between-groups comparison.
Setting: Ambulant care facility, community center.
Participants: 26 individuals with CP (spastic and ataxic; GMFCS I-III; mean=9.8y; f=11, m=15) and in 39 typically developed (TD) children and adolescents (mean=10.0y; f=23, m=16).
Interventions: IPT applied by a therapist to locations at the back and the head.
Main Outcome Measures: As primary outcomes head and trunk sway during self-paced walking were assessed by inertial measurement units. Secondary outcomes were average step length and gait speed.
Results: CP group: apex and occiput IPT reduced head velocity sway compared to thoracic IPT (both p=0.04) irrespective of individuals’ specific clinical symptoms. TD group: all testing conditions reduced head velocity sway compared to walking alone (all p≤0.03) as well as in apex and occiput IPT compared to paired walking (both p≤0.02).
Conclusions: Deliberately light IPT at the apex of the head alters control of head sway in children and adolescents with CP. The effect of IPT varies as a function of contact location and acts differently in TD individuals.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 1828-1835 |
| Number of pages | 8 |
| Journal | Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation |
| Volume | 98 |
| Issue number | 9 |
| Early online date | 27 Feb 2017 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Sep 2017 |
Keywords
- Cerebral palsy
- Locomotion
- Interpersonal touch
- Body sway