Article

Many young adults with cerebral palsy (CP) face limited participation
in activities, including employment and independent living. Physical therapy
during the transition period can help to support participation through promotion
of self-care, ambulation, and functional mobility. Thus, ensuring appropriate
access to physical therapy services for young people who can benefit from them
before, during, and after transition is imperative. Objective: The objective of
this study was to identify factors contributing to the utilization of physical
therapy services for youth with CP both during and after secondary school.
Design: The design was a deidentified secondary analysis of the National
Longitudinal Transition Study 2 (NLTS2). Methods: Multivariate regression models
were run to examine demographic and disability characteristics influencing
utilization of physical therapy services for youth with CP both during and after
secondary school. Results: The total weighted population sample included 35,290
young people with CP. When all youth were in secondary school, 59.4% of the youth
utilized physical therapy services; however, once all youth were out of school,
only 33.7% of them were reported to have utilized physical therapy since leaving
secondary school. For young people with difficulties accessing general disability
support services, demographic characteristics, including sex, race, income, and
parent education status, influenced use of physical therapy services in addition
to disability characteristics. Limitations: This population sample included only
young people in special education with Individual Education Plans (IEPs) and may
not generalize to young people with CP in general education settings.
Conclusions: Frequency of physical therapy services decreases drastically once
young adults with CP leave secondary school. Future work should examine this
trend in more depth to identify therapy intervention strategies to optimize
participation in young adult life for persons with CP.

Langue : ANGLAIS