Functional performance of children with cerebral palsy diplegia and hemiplegia

Abstract

The definition ideal of cerebral palsy (PC) is to associate the functional performance with topographical characteristics and alterations of tonus. However, most of the bibliography describes this pathology and its consequences, when they evaluate the functional performance and doesn´t consider the existing differences in these types or uses only one type of PC. In literature, only one bibliography was differentiate the self-care between diplegic and hemiplegic. Evaluating the relation of the functional performance of children with diplegic and hemiplegic P.C. Transversal study with children of three to seven years old who have diplegic and hemiplegic spastics P.C., in both the sexes, and did under physitherapy. Children who didn’t walk and/or had any cognitive deficit were excluded from the research. Guardians were interviewed using part I (functional performance in the areas of self-care and mobility) of the Pediatric Evaluation of Disability Inventory (PEDI), as well as questionnaire with personal datas of the children. The program BioEstat 4,0 was used, statistical test Mann-Whitney, to verification of the association purpose. α 0,05 was used as statistics inference. The sample was composed for 40 children, 22 diplegic and 18 hemiplegic. The feminine sex participation (53%) was the biggest and carried through treatment associated with the physitherapy (88%). The self-care area (p=0,16) didn´t present difference between the groups, however, mobility, (p=0,02) suggests that the hemiplegic group had a better functional performance. The hemiplegic had better mobility that the diplegic, while in the self-care it was not observed statistic difference between the groups.