Article

The available health resources limit the amount of therapy that may
be offered to children with cerebral palsy and the amount of training in each
session may be insufficient to drive the neuroplastic changes, which are
necessary for functional improvements to take place. The aim of this pilot study
was to provide proof of concept that individualized and supervised interactive
home-based training delivered through the internet may provide an efficient way
of maintaining intensive training of children with cerebral palsy over prolonged
periods. METHODS: 9 children (aged 9-13 years) with cerebral palsy were included
in the study. Motor, perceptual and cognitive abilities were evaluated before and
after 20 weeks of home-based training delivered through the internet. RESULTS:
The children and their families reported great enthusiasm with the training
system and all experienced subjective improvements in motor abilities and
self-esteem. The children on average trained for 74 hours during a 20 week period
equalling just over 30 minutes per day. Significant improvements in functional
muscle strength measured as the frontal and lateral step-up and sit-to-stand
tests were observed. Assessment of Motor and processing skills also showed
significant increases. Endurance measured as the Bruce test showed a significant
improvement, whereas there was no significant change in the 6 min walking test.
Balance (Romberg) was unchanged. Visual perceptual abilities increased
significantly. CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that it is feasible to deliver
interactive training of children with cerebral palsy at home through the internet
and thereby ensure more intensive and longer lasting training than what is
normally offered to this group.

Langue : ANGLAIS

Tiré à part : OUI