Article

Most pediatric cancer patients decline physical performance therapy, resulting in
limitations in the activities of daily living. The objective of this study was to
investigate the effects of rehabilitation in pediatric patients with cancer using
the functional independence measure (FIM) score. This retrospective study
included 25 inpatient children diagnosed with cancer at a single university
hospital from January 2016 to December 2016. All patients underwent
rehabilitative intervention during their hospital stay. We investigated the
contents of the rehabilitation program and the FIM scores before and after the
rehabilitative intervention. The average FIM scores improved in all patients;
however, only the total-FIM scores (+4.96 points, P=0.009) and motor-FIM scores
(+4.04 points, P=0.005) improved significantly. Conversely, cognitive-FIM score
did not significantly improve (+0.92 points, P=0.159). In addition, motor-FIM
subgroup scores for locomotion (walk/wheelchair and stairs) were significantly
higher (+0.36 points, P=0.039 and +0.64 points, P=0.046, respectively) after
rehabilitative intervention, regardless of the length of hospital stay. This
study showed that FIM score, particularly motor-FIM score and locomotion subgroup
scores, significantly improved owing to participation in inpatient
rehabilitation. In conclusion, we found that rehabilitative intervention improved
physical activity, especially locomotion.

Langue : ANGLAIS