Journal article

Randomized comparison trial of density and context of upper limb intensive group versus individualized occupational therapy for children with unilateral cerebral palsy

L Sakzewski, L Miller, J Ziviani, DF Abbott, S Rose, RAL Macdonell, RN Boyd

Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology | Published : 2015

Abstract

Aim: To determine whether short-term intensive group-based therapy combining modified constraint-induced movement therapy and bimanual therapy (hybrid-CIMT) is more effective than an equal total dose of distributed individualized occupational therapy (standard care) on upper limb motor and individualized outcomes. Method: Fifty-three children with unilateral cerebral palsy (69% males; mean age 7y 10mo, SD 2y 4mo; Manual Ability Classification System level I, n=24; level II, n=23) were randomly allocated, and 44 received either hybrid-CIMT (n=25) or standard care (n=19). Standard care comprised six weekly occupational therapy sessions and a 12-week home programme. Outcomes were assessed at ba..

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University of Melbourne Researchers

Grants

Awarded by National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC)


Awarded by NHMRC of Australia


Awarded by NHMRC TRIP


Awarded by NHMRC


Funding Acknowledgements

We thank all the children and families who participated in the study. We acknowledge the contributions of study coordinators J Bowden and K Nevin. We thank M Lewis, T Carson, and M Thorley for their assistance in independently scoring the Melbourne and AHA. We thank the volunteers who assisted with the camps, and the standard care occupational therapists who delivered individualized occupational therapy as part of the trial. We thank the Queensland Cerebral Palsy Health Service for assistance with recruitment and provision of standard care. LM was supported by a National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Scholarship (1039832) and a University of Queensland Research scholarship. RNB was supported by a Career Development Fellowship from the NHMRC of Australia (1037220). LS was supported by an NHMRC TRIP fellowship (1036183). This project was supported by funding from a NHMRC grant (COM-BiT project grant: 1003887). The authors have stated that they had no interests which might be perceived as posing a conflict or bias.