Constraint-Based Therapy to Improve Motor Function in Children With Cerebral Palsy

Cerebral palsy afflicts at least two in 1,000 children in the United States and approximately 2,000,000 children worldwide. Behavioral techniques that impact the plasticity of the nervous system need to be incorporated into practical, evidence-based therapeutic interventions for this condition.

CI therapy was derived from basic research with animal and human subjects. Randomized, controlled studies indicate that it can substantially reduce the motor deficit of adult patients with mild to moderately severe chronic strokes and can increase their independence over a period of years. CI therapy involves motor restriction of the less affected upper extremity for a period of 2 to 3 weeks while concurrently training the more affected upper limb. This gives rise to concentrated, repetitive use of the more affected extremity. In adults, CI therapy has lead to a large increase in use-dependent cortical reorganization involving the recruitment of substantial new regions of the brain in the innervation of more affected extremity movement.

The study will evaluate CI therapy in a pediatric population. The study will test whether pediatric CI therapy can promote new and improved motor behavior in young children with hemiparesis associated with cerebral palsy. Pediatric CI therapy involves total restraint of the unaffected upper extremity with simultaneous repetitive use of the affected extremity for 6 hours/day for 21 consecutive days.

Fifty-two children ages 2 to 6 years old with hemiparetic cerebral palsy will be randomly assigned to either the pediatric CI therapy group or to a control group. The control group will receive standard rehabilitation therapy. All children will have a complete medical evaluation with emphasis on motor function prior to treatment initiation. Children will undergo follow-up testing at 1, 6, and 12 months post-treatment. The primary study assessment tools are the Pediatric Developmental Motor Scales - II (PDMS-II), DASI – II, Bayley Developmental Skills Test, Pediatric Motor Activity Log (PMAL), Child Arm Use Test (CAUT), and Emerging Behavior Scale (EBS).