Ambulatory activity of children with cerebral palsy - Wiley Online Library

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Mar 13, 2012 - cheap and they are easy in their use. However, children's activities ... Watch activity monitor (see below) to register ambulatory activity. They were ... athletic competence domain of Harter's Self Perception Pro- file for Children ...
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