Relative contribution of sensory and motor impairments to mobility limitations in children with cerebral palsy: an observational study

The purpose of this study was to determine the relative contribution of sensory and motor impairments to mobility limitations in cerebral palsy. An observational study was carried out in 83 children with all types of cerebral palsy with a mean age of 10.8 years (SD 1.2). Five impairments (coordination, strength, spasticity, contracture, proprioception) and three aspects of mobility (standing up from a chair, short and long distance walking) were measured. Standard multiple regression was used to determine the relative contribution of impairments to mobility as well as the relative contribution of strength of individual muscle groups (dorsiflexors, plantarflexors, knee extensors, hip abductors and hip extensors) to mobility. Five impairments accounted for 48% of the variance in overall mobility (p < 0.001): coordination independently accounted for 9%, contracture for 4% and strength for 3% of the variance. Five muscle groups accounted for 53% of the variance in overall mobility (p < 0.001): hip extensors independently accounted for 9%, knee extensors for 4%, dorsiflexors for 4% and plantarflexors for 3% of the variance. Our findings demonstrate that the impairments making a significant independent contribution to mobility in pre-adolescent cerebral palsy were loss of coordination, loss of strength and contracture.