• Arch Phys Med Rehabil · Sep 2007

    Relationships between spasticity, strength, gait, and the GMFM-66 in persons with spastic diplegia cerebral palsy.

    • Sandy A Ross and Jack R Engsberg.
    • Department of Physical Therapy, Maryville University, St. Louis, MO 63141-7299, USA. sross@maryville.edu
    • Arch Phys Med Rehabil. 2007 Sep 1; 88 (9): 1114-20.

    ObjectiveTo determine the relationships between spasticity, strength, and the functional measures of gait and gross motor function in persons with spastic diplegia cerebral palsy (CP).DesignRetrospective, cross-sectional study.SettingHospital clinic.ParticipantsNinety-seven participants (49 boys, 48 girls; mean age+/-standard deviation, 9.11+/-4.8 y) with spastic diplegia CP were tested once.InterventionsNot applicable.Main Outcome MeasuresA KinCom dynamometer was used to objectively measure spasticity (ankle plantarflexors, knee flexors, hip adductors) and maximum strength (ankle dorsiflexors and plantarflexors, knee flexors and extensors, hip abductors and adductors). A gait analysis was conducted to evaluate linear variables (gait speed, stride length, cadence) and kinematic variables (ankle dorsiflexion, foot progression, knee and hip flexion, pelvic tilt at initial contact and ankle dorsiflexion, knee and hip flexion, pelvic tilt, trunk rotation range of motion) during gait. Gross motor function was measured using the Gross Motor Function Measure (GMFM-66) and separately, the GMFM walking, running & jumping dimension. Multiple linear regression analysis was used to determine the relationships between spasticity, strength, gait, and the GMFM (P<.05).ResultsSpasticity did not account for a substantial amount of explained variance in gait and gross motor function (up to 8% for the GMFM walking, running & jumping dimension). Moderate to high correlations existed between strength and gait linear data and function, accounting for up to 69% of the explained variance (strength and GMFM-66, r2=.69).ConclusionsFor this cohort of participants with spastic diplegia CP who ambulated with or without an assistive device, strength was highly related to function and explained far more of the variance than spasticity. The results may not be generalized to those with more severe forms of CP.

      Pubmed     Full text   Copy Citation     Plaintext  

      Add institutional full text...

    Notes

     
    Knowledge, pearl, summary or comment to share?
    300 characters remaining
    help        
    You can also include formatting, links, images and footnotes in your notes
    • Simple formatting can be added to notes, such as *italics*, _underline_ or **bold**.
    • Superscript can be denoted by <sup>text</sup> and subscript <sub>text</sub>.
    • Numbered or bulleted lists can be created using either numbered lines 1. 2. 3., hyphens - or asterisks *.
    • Links can be included with: [my link to pubmed](http://pubmed.com)
    • Images can be included with: ![alt text](https://bestmedicaljournal.com/study_graph.jpg "Image Title Text")
    • For footnotes use [^1](This is a footnote.) inline.
    • Or use an inline reference [^1] to refer to a longer footnote elseweher in the document [^1]: This is a long footnote..

    hide…