Educational outcomes for children with cerebral palsy: a linked data cohort study

• Published in: Developmental medicine and child neurology 2018-04, Vol.60 (4), p.397-401
• Main Authors: Gillies, Malcolm B, Bowen, Jennifer R, Patterson, Jillian A, Roberts, Christine L, Torvaldsen, Siranda
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 0012-1622; 1469-8749
• DOI: 10.1111/dmcn.13651

Aim To identify a cohort of children with cerebral palsy (CP) from hospital data; determine the proportion that participated in standardized educational testing and attained a score within the normal range; and describe the relationship between test results and motor symptoms. Method This population‐based retrospective cohort study used data from New South Wales, Australia. We linked hospital data for children younger than 16 years of age admitted between 1st July 2000 and 31st March 2014 to education data from 2009 to 2014. Hospital diagnosis codes were used to identify a cohort of children with CP (n=3944) and describe their motor symptoms. Educational outcomes in the CP cohort were compared with those among children without CP. Results Of those with educational data (n=1770), 46% were exempt from reading assessment because of intellectual or functional disability, 7% were absent or withdrawn from testing and 47% participated in testing. About 30% of all children with educational data had test scores in the normal range. The proportion was greatest among those with hemiplegia (>40%) and lowest among those with tetraplegia (