Article

A pilot study to compare the effectiveness of an individual therapy
program with the effects of a general physical therapy program. DESIGN: A
randomized, single-blind cross-over design. PARTICIPANTS: Ten ambulant children
with bilateral spastic cerebral palsy, age four to nine years. INTERVENTION:
Participants were randomly assigned into a ten-week individually defined,
targeted or a general program, followed by a cross-over. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES:
Evaluation was performed using the Gross Motor Function Measure-88 and
three-dimensional gait analysis. General outcome parameters were Gross Motor
Function Measure-88 scores, time and distance parameters, gait profile score and
movement analysis profiles. Individual goal achievement was evaluated using
z-scores for gait parameters and Goal Attainment Scale for gross motor function.
RESULTS: No significant changes were observed regarding gross motor function.
Only after individualized therapy, step- and stride-length increased
significantly (p = 0.022; p = 0.017). Change in step-length was higher after the
individualized program (p = 0.045). Within-group effects were found for the
pelvis in transversal plane after the individualized program (p = 0.047) and in
coronal plane after the general program (p = 0.047). Between-program differences
were found for changes in the knee in sagittal plane, in the advantage of the
individual program (p = 0.047). A median difference in z-score of 0.279 and 0.419
was measured after the general and individualized program, respectively.
Functional goal attainment was higher after the individual therapy program
compared with the general program (48 to 43.5). CONCLUSION: The results indicate
slightly favorable effects towards the individualized program. To detect
clinically significant changes, future studies require a minimal sample size of
72 to 90 participants.
CI - (c) The Author(s) 2014.

Langue : ANGLAIS