Highlights
- •Apex interpersonal touch (IPT) alters locomotor control of head sway in cerebral palsy (CP).
- •Trunk IPT acts in opposition to head IPT in CP.
- •IPT affects typically developed individuals differently than individuals with CP.
Abstract
Objective
To evaluate the potential of deliberately light interpersonal touch (IPT) for reducing
excessive head and trunk sway during self-paced walking in children and adolescents
with cerebral palsy (CP).
Design
Quasi-experimental, proof-of-concept study with between-groups comparison.
Setting
Ambulant care facility, community center.
Participants
Children and adolescents (N=65), consisting of those with CP (spastic and ataxic,
n=26; Gross Motor Function Classification System I–III; mean age, 9.8y; 11 girls,
15 boys) and those who were typically developed (TD, n=39; mean age, 10.0y; 23 girls,
16 boys).
Interventions
IPT applied by a therapist to locations at the back and the head.
Main Outcome Measures
As primary outcomes, head and trunk sway during self-paced walking were assessed by
inertial measurement units. Secondary outcomes were average step length and gait speed.
Results
CP group: apex and occiput IPT reduced head velocity sway compared with thoracic IPT
(both P=.04) irrespective of individuals' specific clinical symptoms. TD group: all testing
conditions reduced head velocity sway compared with walking alone (all P≤.03), as well as in apex and occiput IPT compared with paired walking (both P≤.02).
Conclusions
Deliberately light IPT at the apex of the head alters control of head sway in children
and adolescents with CP. The effect of IPT varies as a function of contact location
and acts differently in TD individuals.
Keywords
List of abbreviations:
CP (cerebral palsy), GMFCS (Gross Motor Function Classification System), HVS (head velocity sway), IPT (interpersonal touch), TD (typically developed), TVS (trunk velocity sway)To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: February 28, 2017
Footnotes
Supported by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research of Germany (BMBF; grant no. 01EO1401) and by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft through the TUM International Graduate School of Science and Engineering.
Disclosures: none.
Identification
Copyright
© 2017 by the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine
