Research on Pediatric Physical Therapy and Occupational Therapy

Disclaimer: These pages are
not intended to provide medical
advice or physician/therapist
instruction. Information provided
should not be used for
diagnostic or training purposes.
Consult a therapist or physician
regarding specific diagnoses or
medical advice.

Go to recent
research and
links from
October 2007
November 2007
December 2007
January 2008
February 2008
March 2008
April 2008
May 2008
June 2008

JULY 2008 RECENT RESEARCH:

St John's Wort and ADHD
The Journal of American Medical Association reports that in a randomized, double blind controlled study,
hypericum perforatum (St John's Wort), does not improve symptoms of ADHD in children ages 6-17 years
old. There was no difference in scores on the ADHD Rating Scale IV found between the placebo group
and the St John's Wort group following an 8 week trial period.

Reference: Wendy Weber; Ann Vander Stoep; Rachelle L. McCarty; Noel S. Weiss; Joseph Biederman;
Jon McClellan Hypericum perforatum (St John's Wort) for Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder in Children
and Adolescents: A Randomized Controlled Trial JAMA. 2008;299(22):2633-2641.

HOME

Botox and Hemi CP
The Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health reports no significant difference in the quality of life in children
with hemiplegic cerebral palsy following Botox A therapy in the upper limb.

Reference: Toni A Redman, Judith C Finn, Alexandra P Bremner, Jane Valentine (2008) Effect of upper
limb botulinum toxin-A therapy on health-related quality of life in children with hemiplegic cerebral palsy
doi:10.1111/j.1440-1754.2008.01319.x

Developmental Delay and Early Intervention
Pediatrics reports that a recent study indicated that approximately 13% of United States children in 2001
were eligible for Part C early intervention due to developmental delays. Only 10% of those children were
receiving early intervention services at 24 months of age. Black children were least likely to receive
services.

Reference: Rosenberg, Steven A., Zhang, Duan, Robinson, Cordelia C. Prevalence of Developmental
Delays and Participation in Early Intervention Services for Young Children Pediatrics 2008 121:
e1503-e1509

Seat Cushions and Attention Span
The American Journal of Occupational Therapy reports in their recent issue that the Disc 'O Sit Cushion
significantly improved attention to the task in students with attention difficulties when compared to
students with attention difficulties without the cushion.

Reference: Beth Pfeiffer-PhD, OTR/L, BCP, Amy Henry-MS, OTR/L, Stephanie Miller-MS, OTR/L, Suzie
Witherell-MS, OTR/L. (2008)Effectiveness of Disc 'O' Sit Cushions on Attention to Task in Second-Grade
Students With Attention Difficulties. AJOT 62:3.

Motor Learning and Feedback in Children
Physical Therapy reports on research regarding the effects of feedback on motor learning. The study
showed that children who received reduced feedback on a task performed with decreased accuracy and
consistency during the retention task when compared to children who received 100% feedback. When the
children with reduced feedback returned for reacquisition testing, they were able to improve their
performance. The authors concluded that children use feedback differently that young adults. In addition,
children may require longer practice periods and gradual reduction of feedback when learning new skills.

Reference: Sullivan, Katherine J, Kantak, Shailesh S, Burtner, Patricia A Motor Learning in Children:
Feedback Effects on Skill Acquisition PHYS THER 2008 88: 720-732

Great Links to Check Out for FREE stuff for school based therapists:

Here is a new browser for autistic children - www.zacbrowser.com. This is definitely not only
beneficial for autistic children. It is so much easier for any child to negotiate the web using
this browser especially for children with special needs. You can try the software out by just
running it - you do not even have to download it completely onto your own computer. The
choices are limited as compared to the web but for starters this is awesome. It will allow
many children with disabilities to access the web more independently. Check it out at
www.zacbrowser.com.

Check out this website - www.readthewords.com. This program will read aloud any text on
the computer and it is FREE! Great for students with learning disabilities who benefit from
text being read.

CP Classification
The Journal of Pediatrics reports on a study of 1056 two year olds born before 28 weeks gestation. One
hundred twenty of the children could be classified as having cerebral palsy. The types of CP were as
follows: 52% were quadriplegics, 31% were diplegics and 17% had hemiparesis. The children with
quadriplegia were more likely to be micro-cephalic, have an IQ of less than 70 and had the highest risk of
autism.

Reference: Karl C.K. Kuban MD, Elizabeth N. Allred MS, Michael O'Shea MD, MPH, Nigel Paneth MD, MPH,
Marcello Pagano PhD, Alan Leviton MD‡ and ELGAN Study Cerebral Palsy-Algorithm Group (2008) An
Algorithm for Identifying and Classifying Cerebral Palsy in Young Children doi:10.1016/j.jpeds.
2008.04.013

Motor Development and Iron Deficiency
Early Human Development reports that iron deficiency with and without anemia in 9-10 month old African
American inner city infants resulted in poorer motor function when compared to peers without iron
deficiency.

Reference: Tal Shafir, Rosa Angulo-Barroso, Yuezhou Jing, Mary Lu Angelilli, Sandra W. Jacobson and
Betsy Lozoff (2008) Iron deficiency and infant motor development Early Human Development
84(7):479-485.