Efficacy of a hand–arm bimanual intensive therapy (HABIT) in children with hemiplegic cerebral palsy: a randomized control trial

Children with hemiplegic cerebral palsy (CP) have impairments in bimanual coordination above and beyond their unilateral impairments. Recently we developed hand‐arm bimanual intensive therapy (HABIT), using the principles of motor learning, and neuroplasticity, to address these bimanual impairments....

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Developmental medicine and child neurology 2007-11, Vol.49 (11), p.830-838
Main Authors: Gordon, Andrew M, Schneider, Jennifer A, Chinnan, Ashley, Charles, Jeanne R
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Arm - physiopathology
Bulletin Boards
Cerebral Palsy
Cerebral Palsy - physiopathology
Cerebral Palsy - therapy
Child
Child, Preschool
Control Groups
Coordination
Exercise Therapy
Female
Hand - physiopathology
Humans
Intelligence Tests
Male
Physical Therapy Modalities
Research Assistants
Single-Blind Method
Social Integration
Teaching Methods
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Children with hemiplegic cerebral palsy (CP) have impairments in bimanual coordination above and beyond their unilateral impairments. Recently we developed hand‐arm bimanual intensive therapy (HABIT), using the principles of motor learning, and neuroplasticity, to address these bimanual impairments. A single‐blinded randomized control study of HABIT was performed to examine its efficacy in children with hemiplegic CP with mild to moderate hand involvement. Twenty children (age range 3y 6mo‐15y 6mo) were randomized to either an intervention (n=10: seven males, three females; mean age 8y 7mo, SD 4y) or a delayed treatment control group (n=10: seven males, three females; mean age 6y 10mo, SD 2y 4mo). Children were engaged in play and functional activities that provided structured bimanual practice 6 hours per day for 10 days. Each child was evaluated immediately before and after the intervention, and again at 1‐month post‐intervention. Children in the intervention group demonstrated improved scores on the Assisting Hand Assessment, increased involved extremity use measured using accelerometry and a caregiver survey, bimanual items of the Bruininks–Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency, and the simultaneity of completing a draw‐opening task with two hands (p
ISSN:0012-1622
1469-8749
DOI:10.1111/j.1469-8749.2007.00830.x