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Pain and Cerebral Palsy

A recent study assessed the pain of 153 participants (8 -18 years old). The majority of the children had bilateral spastic cerebral palsy (55%) followed by 38% with unilateral spastic, 6% dyskinetic and 1% ataxic. Gross Motor Function Measures varied from Level I through V with the majority of children in Levels I and II. The results indicated that 62% of the children experienced pain. The only significant predictor of pain was being more than 14 years old. The children reported their pain to be moderate whereas parents reported their pain levels to be higher. Both children and parents stated that pain impacted walking and general activity.

Reference: RAMSTAD, K., JAHNSEN, R., SKJELDAL, O. H. and DISETH, T. H. (2011), Characteristics of recurrent musculoskeletal pain in children with cerebral palsy aged 8 to 18 years. Developmental Medicine & Child Neurology, 53: 1013–1018. doi: 10.1111/j.1469-8749.2011.04070.x