Article

AIM: To determine whether home-based, parent-delivered therapy comprising action
observation (AO) and repeated practice (RP) improves upper limb function more
than RP alone in children with unilateral cerebral palsy (UCP). METHOD: DESIGN:
single-blinded parallel-group randomized controlled trial with 1:1 allocation
comparing AO+RP (intervention) with RP alone (control). RANDOMIZATION:
computer-generated, with allocation concealment by opaque sequentially-numbered
envelopes. SETTING: northern England, August 2011 to September 2013.
PARTICIPANTS: 70 children with UCP; mean age 5.6 years (SD 2.1), 31 female.
INTERVENTION: home-based activities were provided, tailored to interests and
abilities. DURATION: 15 minutes/day, 5 days/week for 3 months. ASSESSMENTS:
Assisting Hand Assessment (AHA; primary outcome measure), Melbourne Assessment 2
(MA2), and ABILHAND-Kids at baseline, 3 months, and 6 months. RESULTS: Outcome
data was available at 3 months for 28 children in the AO+RP group and 31
controls, and at 6 months for 26 and 28 children respectively. There were no
between-group differences in AHA, MA2, or ABILHAND-Kids at 3 or 6 months versus
baseline (all p>0.05). Combined-group improvements (p<0.001), observed in AHA and
MA2 at 3 months, were maintained at 6 months. ABILHAND-Kids also showed
improvement at 3 months (p=0.003), maintained at 6 months. INTERPRETATION:
Parent-delivered RP (with or without AO) improves upper limb function and could
supplement therapist input.
CI - (c) 2016 The Authors. Developmental Medicine & Child Neurology published by John
Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Mac Keith Press.

Langue : ANGLAIS