Evidence for gait improvement with robotic-assisted gait training of children with cerebral palsy remains uncertain.

BACKGROUND: Cerebral palsy (CP) is a group of neuromotor diseases that develops as a result of damage to the developing central nervous system during the perinatal period. The condition is usually accompanied by musculoskeletal problems resulting in movement disorders. Gait improvement therefore, is an important part of its treatment. Roboticassisted gait training (RAGT) is a new potential rehabilitation tool for CP patients, however there is no clear evidence for the effectiveness of this method. RESEARCH QUESTION: Can robotic-assisted gait training improve walking function in children with CP? METHODS: A systematic search was performed in five databases: MEDLINE (via PubMed), Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), Embase, Scopus, and Web of Science. Eligible studies were randomized controlled trials (RCT) with CP patients under the age of 18. Gross motor function and kinematic gait parameters of patients were the main outcomes. Two authors determined the risk of bias of the RCTs independently using the revised Risk of Bias 2 (ROB 2) tool. Mean Differences (MDs) along with their 95% Confidence Interval (CI) were calculated when at least three studies were present for an outcome, subgroup analysis was performed based on the treatment of the control group. RESULTS: Of the 7363 screened articles, 13 papers met our inclusion criteria and among them, 7 studies could be used in our meta-analyses. The results related to RAGT suggest nonsignificant improvement in standing and walking function (Gross Motor Function Measure D, E), moreover changes in gait speed, step length, and in cadence were also only comparable to controls. SIGNIFICANCE: The results indicate that there is a trend in some gait parameters where the improvement was higher in the intervention group than in control group. The therapeutic effect of RAGT was probably not superior to physiotherapy combined with treadmill training.

[Hungarian adaptation of the Caregiver Priorities and Child Health Index of Life with Disabilities questionnaire]. / Cerebralis paresisben szenvedo gyermekek egészségindexe.

INTRODUCTION: Caregiver Priorities and Child Health Index of Life with Disabilities (CPCHILD) questionnaire is a measurement tool for assessing health status and wellbeing of disabled children, which evaluates children's quality of life from the caregiver point of view. OBJECTIVE: The aim of our work was the Hungarian translation and cultural adaptation of the questionnaire and also validation of the CPCHILD on Hungarian cerebral palsy patients. Further aim was to test the eligibility of the questionnaire for superficial assessment of caregiver's psychological attitudes. METHOD: Translation of the questionnaire was carried out according to the Beaton's guidelines. Test-retest, interrater reliability (ICC) and also internal consistency (Cronbach-alpha) were calculated for reliability. The importance of the questions was assessed for face validity and known group validity test was done to measure construct validity. For examining parental attitudes, the patients were divided into ambulatory and non-ambulatory groups and the 36 quality of life questions of the 7th domain were used to find relations. RESULTS: During test-retest reliability measurements, the ICC was 0.96 (95% CI: 0.88-0.98), and Cronbach-alpha exceeded the minimal expected value of 0.7 (0.74-0.97) except in the 5th domain (0.67), while measuring interrater reliability the ICC was 0.87 (95% CI 0.70-0.94). Face validity was above the 2.0 threshold in every question (2.6-4.5; mean: 3.4 ± 1.34) and the known group validity calculations showed significant differences between the CPCHILD scores of ambulatory and non-ambulatory groups. Examining parental attitudes, a significant difference was also shown among the parents of ambulatory and non-ambulatory children in assessing the importance of sitting in the quality of life of their children (2.89 ± 1.28 vs. 3.51 ± 0.82; p<0.01). CONCLUSION: The final outcome of our study is that CPCHILD questionnaire has become widely accessible in Hungarian language. Our result, that the answers referring to the sitting abilities and the activities should be carried out in sitting position, was significantly different among the caregivers of the ambulatory and non-ambulatory children, showing that the parents of the GMFCS IV and V category children evaluate the importance of sitting ability higher compared to those parents who care for GMFCS I, II and III category children. Furthermore, the results draw attention to the wellbeing and health of the children measurable with CPCHILD as well as that parental caregiver attitudes can be recognized which may give further help in finding the balance between expectations and possibilities during the rehabilitation of cerebral palsy children. Orv Hetil. 2023; 164(16): 610-617.