Dual Task Training in Spastic Cerebral Palsy

Summary

Cerebral palsy(CP) is a non-progressive disorder, undergoing mishap to the developing brain and it affect a person's ability to move and maintain balance and posture. Old name of CP is "Little's disease". In Spastic diplegic, muscle stiffness is mainly in the legs, with the arms less affected or not affected at all. There could be secondary musculoskeletal problems due to muscle weakness resulting from poor alignment, limited range of motion, and asymmetrical posture. These deformities are negatively affected by biomechanical movements and can affect balance and gait functions. The main goal of rehabilitation in children with cerebral palsy is to restore independent walking. However, children with cerebral palsy have limited mobility, which leads to gait disorders (short steps, slow walking speed, increased swing phase and postural instability). Therefore, it is important to choose an effective training method to improve the balance and gait of children with cerebral palsy. Walking training can help improve muscle tone, postural control and gait function as well as improve muscle strength, endurance, and coordination of the lower extremities. A growing body of evidence supports implementing dual-task gait training for enhancing functional mobility and cognitive performance. This will be a randomized controlled trial, data will be collected from Rising Sun Institute, Mughalpura campus. A study will be conducted on 32 patients. Inclusion criteria of this study is spastic diplegic CP children with age between 6 to 12 years, with GMFCS level 1 to 3 and those who can walk 50 m without mechanical walking aids and maintain standing for more than 5 seconds without falling will be included. Exclusion criteria of this study is low intellectual ability (IQ \< 80) and behavioral symptoms which might affect participation in the protocol, none of the children had surgery or botulinum toxin injections during the year prior to the assessment. Group1 will receive conventional therapy for 30 minutes a day, 3 times a week for 8 weeks. And group 2 will receive conventional therapy with dual-task training for 30 minutes a day, 3 times a week for 8 weeks. For the pre- and post-evaluation of all participants Berg balance scale and Gait outcome assessment list-(GOAL) will be used. Data will be analyzed through SPSS version 23.00.

Conditions

• Spastic Cerebral Palsy

Interventions

OTHER

conventional therapy

The control group embarked on a conventional therapy regimen designed for patients with spastic diplegic cerebral palsy. This group will do 10reps of ROM exercises, 3 times stretching 30sec hold with 10sec rest and 5reps of strengthening exercises, standing , weight on one leg and raising the other leg to the side or behind, putting heel in front of your toe i.e., tandem stance, standing up and sitting down from a chair without using hands, walking while alternating knee lifts with each step.This group will do conventional therapy for 30 minutes a day, 3 times a week for 8 weeks

OTHER

Dual Task Training

Warming up exercise Supine Trunk and lower extremity ROM exercise Main exercise Sitting Base of support: balance cushion, ball Program: perform cognition task while maintaining balance (writing, drawing, puzzle etc.) Bench sitting (half ring P.) Base of support: balance pad Program: perform fine motor activities while maintaining balance (blocks assembly, scissoring, origami etc.) Standing Base of support: balance pad, balance cushion Program: perform eating while maintaining balance (drinking water, eat a snack etc.) Cool down exercise Supine Low extremity stretching \& deep breathing

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Riphah International University

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Tayyaba Khalid, MS* · Riphah International University

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

SINGLE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

6 Years

Max Age

12 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2024-05-15

Primary Completion

2024-08-05

Completion

2024-08-15

Countries

• Pakistan

Study Locations