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Characteristics of associated reactions in people with hemiplegic cerebral palsy
Author(s) -
Chiu HsiuChing,
Ada Louise,
Butler Jane,
Coulson Susan
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
physiotherapy research international
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.509
H-Index - 49
eISSN - 1471-2865
pISSN - 1358-2267
DOI - 10.1002/pri.487
Subject(s) - spasticity , cerebral palsy , contracture , physical medicine and rehabilitation , psychology , physical therapy , medicine , surgery
Purposes. To investigate the relationship between associated reactions and a) spasticity, b) contracture and c) coordination. Methods. Associated reactions were measured as magnitude of muscle activity in the affected limb during a 50% maximum voluntary contraction of muscles in the unaffected limb. Spasticity was measured as hyper‐reflexia during passive muscle stretch, coordination as performance during a tracking task, and contracture as loss of range of motion. Chi‐square analysis was used to examine the association between associated reactions and spasticity, and linear regression to examine the relationship between associated reactions and spasticity, coordination and contracture. Results. Twenty‐three people with hemiplegic cerebral palsy aged from 15 to 47 years (mean [SD]: 29 years [9]) participated. Thirteen participants exhibited spasticity, and six participants exhibited associated reactions. Five of the six participants with associated reactions also had spasticity (χ 2 = 2.37, p = 0.12). Associated reactions were highly correlated with spasticity (r = 0.77, p = 0.001), but not with contracture (r = 0.35, p = 0.29) or coordination (r = −0.31, p = 0.30). Conclusions. Although 27% of participants exhibited associated reactions, and these were mostly small, associated reactions appear to be an expression of spasticity in hemiplegic cerebral palsy. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.