Article

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: Children and adolescents (N=65),
consisting of those with CP (spastic and ataxic, n=26;
Gross Motor Function
Classification System I-III; mean age, 9.8y; 11 girls, 15 boys) and those who
were typically developed (TD, n=39; mean age, 10.0y; 23 girls, 16 boys).
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 with thoracic IPT
(both P=.04) irrespective
of individuals' specific clinical symptoms. TD group: all testing conditions
reduced head velocity sway compared with walking alone
(all P</=.03), as well as
in apex and occiput IPT compared with paired walking (both P</=.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.
CI - Copyright (c) 2017 American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine. Published by
Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Langue : ANGLAIS