File
H. Kassem1, W. Heneidy1
1Faculty of Physical Therapy Delta University for Science and Technology, Pediatric Department, Cairo, Egypt
Background: Cerebral Palsy (CP) is a collection of motor disorders resulting from damage to the child’s brain that occurs before, during, or after birth. This damage affects motor system, and as a result the child has poor coordination, poor balance, or abnormal movement patterns or a combination of these characteristics. Spastic hemiplegia is a type of CP which affects one side of the body. Those children may have mixtures of asymmetry between the two sides of the body, spasticity, weakness, sensory loss, decrease of volume of the muscles in the paretic side with impaired postural balance that contribute to their gait abnormalities. There are various approaches and strategies to improve balance including virtual reality and task oriented training.
Purpose: This study was conducted to determine the effects of virtual reality and task oriented training on balance and gait in spastic hemiplegic cerebral palsied children.
Methods: Thirty spastic hemiplegic cerebral palsied children who fulfilled the inclusion criteria were randomly allocated into two study groups of equal number (A and B). Participants in both groups received a selected therapeutic exercise program in addition group A received virtual reality balance training program using Nintendo Wii device for 30 min., while group B received task oriented training for 30 min. The total treatment provided for both groups was 90 min/day, 3 days/week for 6 successive months. Baseline and post-treatment assessment for overall, antero-posterior, and medio-lateral stability indices were evaluated by using Biodex balance system. Support time, stride duration and cadence were determined via tridimensional motion analysis (3DMA) using video based gait assessment system (CLIMA).
Results: Children in both groups showed significant improvement in the post-treatment mean values of all measured variables when compared to the pre-treatment mean values (p<0.05). Significant improvement was observed, regarding balance, in favor of group A when comparing the post treatment mean values of overall, antero-posterior, and medio-lateral stability indices of both groups (p< 0.05). However, significant improvement was observed in gait parameters in favor of group B when the post treatment mean values of support time, stride duration and cadence for both groups were compared (p< 0.05).
Conclusion(s): Virtual reality and Task oriented training are useful treatment strategies that can be used for improving balance and gait in hemiplegic cerebral palsy children.
Implications: Determine the impact of Virtual reality and Task oriented training on Balance and Gait in Hemiplegic Cerebral palsy,,
Funding, acknowledgements: Great thanks for Delta University Administration for allowing us to use the locomotion lab. and Biodex Apparatus for free.
Keywords: Cerebral palsy, Balance, Gait, Virtual reality, Task oriented training
Topic: Community based rehabilitation
Did this work require ethics approval? No
Institution: Cairo University
Committee: Cairo University
Reason: This paper was distracted from a PhD Thesis that was approved by the legal committees of Cairo University
All authors, affiliations and abstracts have been published as submitted.
