DEVELOPMENTAL MEDICINE & CHILD NEUROLOGY
ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Ambulatory activity of children with cerebral palsy: which characteristics are important? LEONTIEN VAN WELY | JULES G BECHER | ASTRID C J BALEMANS | ANNET J DALLMEIJER Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, EMGO+ Institute for Health and Care Research, Research Institute MOVE, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Correspondence to Ms Leontien van Wely at Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, EMGO+ Institute for Health and Care Research, Research Institute MOVE, VU University Medical Center, Postal Box 7057, 1007 MB Amsterdam, the Netherlands. E-mail:
[email protected] This article is commented on by Palisano on pages 390–391 of this issue.
PUBLICATION DATA
AIM To assess ambulatory activity of children with cerebral palsy (CP), aged 7 to 13 years, and
Accepted for publication 20th December 2011. Published online 13th March 2012.
METHOD Sixty-two children with spastic CP (39 males, 23 females; mean age 10y 1mo, SD 1y
ABBREVIATION
TDC
Typically developing children
identify associated characteristics. 8mo; age range 7–13y), classified as Gross Motor Function Classification System (GMFCS) levels I to III, participated. Ambulatory activity was measured during 1 week with a StepWatch activity monitor as steps per day, and time spent at medium and high step rates. Multiple linear regression analyses were performed following a backward selection procedure until only independent variables with p
