The effect of upper limb loading with external weights on gait and trunk control in ambulatory children with spastic hemiplegic cerebral palsy: a randomized controlled trial.

OBJECTIVE: Children with hemiplegic cerebral palsy (CP) are typically ambulant with high motor functioning levels but with gait asymmetry and a greater risk of instability and falling. Physiotherapy is considered the core part of CP rehabilitation due to the risk of neurosurgery and the side effects of drug interventions. Although growing evidence has looked at the effect of upper limb loading during walking in many populations, such interventions in children with CP remain unexplored yet. The purpose of this study was to investigate if loading the upper limbs with external weights could improve walking speed, trunk control, and balance in ambulatory children with hemiplegic CP.

PATIENTS AND METHODS: The following outcome measures were recorded at baseline and six weeks after the intervention: gait speed [10-Meter Walk Test (10 MWT)], trunk control [Trunk Control Measurement Scale (TCMS)], and balance [Pediatric Balance Scale (PBS)]. Multiple 2 (groups) x 2 (time-points) mixed analysis of variance models (ANOVAs) were used for analysis.

RESULTS: Both groups showed a significant improvement (p < 0.001) in 10 MWT, TCMS, and PBS scores post-intervention. However, the magnitude of change in the outcome measures was higher in the intervention group (10 MWT = 0.59 m/s, TCMS = 10.41, PBS = 9.35) compared to the control group (10 MWT = 0.37 m/s, TCMS = 6.43, PBS = 4.68).

CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrated that although both control and intervention groups showed improvements in terms of gait speed, trunk control, and balance, the intervention group that had upper limb loading showed higher significant improvements.  Clinicaltrial.gov ID: NCT05444387.