Activity and Participation in Ambulatory Cerebral Palsy (APCP)

Cross-sectional Descriptive Study to Quantify to What Extent Activity Capacity, Performance and Body Composition Predict Day to Day Life Participation in Ambulatory Children With CP.

The investigators would like to understand how the physical activity levels and body size of a child with cerebral palsy (CP) in a clinical situations versus out in the community relates to what they want to do in day to day life (participation in life). The investigators believe that what a child really does out in day to day life will predict life participation to a greater degree than what they do in a structured clinical situation (i.e. therapy session with therapist). The investigators think that increased body size with normal growth is related to less physical activity and participation in day to day life for children with cerebral palsy (CP) who can walk. This project will use a novel accelerometer to measure walking activity during day to day life.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Cerebral Palsy

Detailed Description

We want to know how the physical activity of children with walking problems or cerebral palsy (CP) relates to what they do in their day to day lives.

We are looking for children who:

• Have walking problems that started before age 2
• Have any type of cerebral palsy (CP) or primary problem that is a developmental movement disorder
• May have hemiplegia, diplegia, walking quadriplegia, May have ataxia, spastic, mixed tone, athetoid, or dyskinetic
• Ages 2 years to less than 10 years
• Able to do some functional walking with or without help(walkers, gait trainers)
• Project requires a one time visit to Seattle Children's Hospital of about 2 hours.
• Children and/or parents will complete surveys.
• The child will be tested for their gross motor and walking skills like at a physical therapy session.
• The child will be given an ankle monitor to wear for 7-10 days.
• They will return the monitor by mail with a questionnaire about what they did the last week.
• Families will receive a print out of their child's walking activity

• Study Type: Observational
• Enrollment (Actual): 128

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • Washington
    • Seattle, Washington, United States, 98101
      • Seattle Children's Research Institute

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 2 years to 9 years (Child)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

• Sampling Method: Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

Children with cerebral palsy (CP) or developmental movement disorder before age two who are able to walk

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

1. age 2 to <10 years (30 per four age groups/2 year increments)
2. Gross Motor Function Classification System (GMFCS) levels I-III
3. diagnosis of cerebral palsy (CP) or developmental movement disorder that occurred prior to age two.

Exclusion Criteria:

1. visual impairment limiting physical activity
2. lower extremity botox injections in the last 3 months
3. uncontrolled seizure disorder impacting mobility skills
4. orthopedic or neurosurgery in the last 6 months.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Number of groups / cohorts

1

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort
Children with cerebral palsy (CP); ages 2 to < 10 years who are able to walk with or without an assistive device

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Community walking activity with the STEPWATCH accelerometer	Walking activity performance within the context of daily life will be measured with a monitor called the StepWatch. The StepWatch was specifically designed and validated for long-term assessment of ambulatory activity during day-to-day life. It is a small,waterproof, self-contained device that is worn on the ankle. It records the number of strides taken every minute for up to two months between downloads.	Assessed at one time point with a 7-10 walking sample

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Participation in day to day life activities	Participation will be quantified by two valid measures of pediatric life participation, the Children's Assessment of Participation and Enjoyment (CAPE) and the Assessment of Life Habits (Life-H for Children).The CAPE was designed to document the child's report of participation in day to day activities, while the Life-H for children is intended to describe a group of life habits that are characteristic of children in their environment (home, school and neighborhood).	Assessed as one time point by parental/child report of participation in the last 4 months

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Seattle Children's Hospital
• Collaborators: Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD)
• Investigators: Study Director: Carol Nicholson, MD, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD)

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start: August 1, 2009
• Primary Completion (Actual): August 1, 2011
• Study Completion (Actual): December 1, 2011

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: October 4, 2010
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: October 6, 2010
• First Posted (Estimate): October 8, 2010

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Estimate): January 5, 2012
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: January 4, 2012
• Last Verified: January 1, 2012

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: physical activity; cerebral palsy; participation; activity performance; walking activity; activity capacity
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Brain Diseases; Central Nervous System Diseases; Nervous System Diseases; Brain Damage, Chronic; Cerebral Palsy
• Other Study ID Numbers: K23HD060764 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)