Best seating condition in children with spastic cerebral palsy: One type does not fit all

Effects of forward tilted seating and foot-support on postural adjustments in children with spastic cerebral palsy: An EMG-study

“…In step one of the project, we evaluated the effect on the kinematics of the head in space and reaching quality. 31 The data confirmed the differential effect of FW-inclination on kinematic reaching quality: only children with US-CP benefitted from FW-tilting, the children with BS-CP performed better on a horizontal seat surface. 31 No effect of FWtilting on head stability was found, presumably because the children in our study 31 were less severely affected than those in the Hadders-Algra (2007) study 28 (GMFCS levels I-III and I-IV, respectively).…”

“…31 The data confirmed the differential effect of FW-inclination on kinematic reaching quality: only children with US-CP benefitted from FW-tilting, the children with BS-CP performed better on a horizontal seat surface. 31 No effect of FWtilting on head stability was found, presumably because the children in our study 31 were less severely affected than those in the Hadders-Algra (2007) study 28 (GMFCS levels I-III and I-IV, respectively). Interestingly, in all children with CP, footsupport in the FW-tilted position was associated with higher reaching velocity, a similar effect was absent in the horizontal condition.…”

“…Between conditions, the child had a 5-min break during which the examiner adjusted the seating condition, and the child rated the pleasantness of the previous seating. 31 The assessments were performed with standardized portable equipment either at the research institute or in an assessment room in the special school, depending on the family's wishes.…”

“…In step one we reported on the kinematics of head sway and reaching movements. 31 The current study (step two) addresses the EMG-data. Ten children were diagnosed with US-CP and nine with BS-CP.…”

“…However, in the children with BS-CP foot-support in the FW-tilted position had a deteriorating effect: it induced longer total path lengths and longer reaching durations. 31 In step two, the current study, we address the effect of the seating modifications on postural adjustments. To the best of our knowledge, no other study focused on the specific effect of foot-support as a possible factor affecting postural muscular adjustments during forward reaching.…”