Comparative analysis of task-oriented strength training and conventional physical therapy to improve activities of daily living in children with spastic cerebral palsy
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.61581/mjsp.v7i03.403Keywords:
Cerebral palsy, Spastic diplegic CP, Task-oriented strength training, Conventional physical therapy, Activities of daily livingAbstract
Objective: To examine the efectiveneess between task-oriented strength training and conventional physical therapy on improving ADLs in children with spastic diplegic CP.
Methodology: A randomized controlled trial was conducted at Physio Brain Jim, Rahim Yar Khan. The age of children were 5-8. Sixty children with GMFCS level II were participated. They were divided in to two groups. Both groups were participate in 45-minutes sessions, three times a week, for six weeks. Group A were given task-oriented strength training, while Group B were given traditional physical therapy. Functionality was measured using the Functional Independence Measure for Children (WeeFIM).
Results: Data was analyzed by SPSS v 27.0 Demographic factors were summarized using descriptive statistics, and the test of normality of data distribution using the Shapiro-Wilk test was performed. The data was not normally distributed; the Wilcoxon signed-rank test and the Mann-Whitney test were used. Data was considered significant if p<0.01. Both task-oriented strength training and conventional physiotherapy showed statistically significant within-group changes in self-care, mobility, cognition, and total WeeFIM scores (p<.001) for all outcomes). The groups did not differ significantly at baseline (p=.538); however, post-intervention total WeeFIM rankings significantly favoured task-oriented strength training (mean rank = 37.75) over conventional physiotherapy (mean rank = 23.25; p<.001).
Conclusion: These findings suggest that task-oriented strength training may offer greater benefits for overall functional independence in children with spastic cerebral palsy. However, the magnitude and clinical significance of the difference require further investigation.
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