Premium
Growth patterns in a population of children and adolescents with cerebral palsy
Author(s) -
Day Steven M,
Strauss David J,
Vachon Pierre J,
Rosenbloom Lewis,
Shavelle Robert M,
Wu Yvonne W
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
developmental medicine and child neurology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.658
H-Index - 143
eISSN - 1469-8749
pISSN - 0012-1622
DOI - 10.1111/j.1469-8749.2007.00167.x
Subject(s) - cerebral palsy , medicine , ambulatory , population , pediatrics , body weight , physical therapy , surgery , environmental health
This study examined growth of children and adolescents with cerebral palsy (CP) who received services from the California Department of Developmental Services from 1987 to 2002. In all, 141 961 measurements of height and weight were taken from 24920 patients with CP (14103 males, 10817 females). Centiles of weight and height were determined by age, sex, and five levels of functional ability ranging from fully ambulatory to unable to walk, crawl, or feed self, and fed via gastrostomy tube. Resulting charts of height and weight centiles were compared with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention weight and height charts for the general population of the US. Centiles of height and weight of patients with CP were close to those of the general population for the highest functioning groups with CP, but lagged substantially for other groups. Presence of a feeding tube was associated with greater height and weight in the lowest functioning groups, with centiles for weight being 2 to 5kg higher for those with gastrostomy tubes. The charts may assist in early identification of nutritional or metabolic difficulties beyond what might be expected for patients with similar functional disabilities.