Shoulder Joint Angle and Forward Reaching Speed in Hemiparetic Cerebral Palsy Children

Abstract

Background: Different daily activities depend on proper forward reach. Doing functional activities bilaterally may improve daily performance. Objective: The aims of the current study are to determine if the bilateral forward reaching task can alter the shoulder joint flexion angle and the reaching speed of non-affected and affected upper limbs and to detect the relation between shoulder flexion angle and reaching speed in hemiparetic cerebral palsied children. Patients and Methods: A total of 50 hemiparetic cerebral palsy children, 52% boys, their ages ranged from 6 to 10 years participated in this study. From an erect sitting position, they were asked to forward reach a ball fixed on a table in front of them. Three different measurements were done, the first two times by the non-affected and the affected limbs separately then the third time by using both limbs at the same time. All measurements were photographed then kinovea software was used to measure the joint angle and speed during unilateral and bilateral forward reaching tasks. Results:The results of the joint angle and speed showed significant change in both limbs in bilateral task compared with that in unilateral task (p=0.0001). There was a negative correlation (r= -0.59, p=0.0001) between joint angle and speed in unilateral task of the affected limb. Less negative correlation (r= -0.45, p=0.001) was observed between joint angle and speed in bilateral task of the affected limb. Conclusion:The better outcomes were gained when the task done bilaterally and there was an inverse relationship between the joint angle and the speed of movement of the affected limb of hemiparetic cerebral palsy children during forward reaching activity.