Monitoring of body position and motion in children with severe cerebral palsy for 24 hours

Abstract

Children with severe CP living at home showed prolonged immobilized posture during night-time sleep when their caregivers would be likely to also be asleep. This may suggest that these children should receive postural care assistance at night.

Sedentary and Active Time in Toddlers with and without Cerebral Palsy

“…Further work to improve the use of accelerometers in this subgroup is required and may include the use of an inclinometer function to detect postural changes and an upper cut point for what is likely to be self-initiated versus parent movement. This concept was explored but not validated in a recent study (29). A limitation of the ActiGraph itself is that it does not measure water activities, and it might not register movement above the sedentary threshold for activities when the trunk is relatively still such as bike riding.…”

Postural deformity in children with cerebral palsy: Why it occurs and how is it managed

“…Environmental factors, such as remaining in asymmetrical recumbent postures for prolonged periods due to poor ability of a child to move spontaneously, should be considered 42,43 ) . Children with severe CP tend to remain in the same body configuration for extended periods when sleeping 44,45 ) . Several systems have been developed to monitor posture in the daily life of children with CP, by determining the angular orientation with respect to gravity of the body part to which an accelerometer is attached [45][46][47] .…”

How Posture Goes Wrong: Body Shape Distortion in Cerebral Palsy

“…Children with CP tend to stay inactive and in limited and asymmetric positions during the day and at night [2]. Children at risk for body shape distortion may be assisted into therapeutic positioning where the trunk, pelvis and legs are meticulously aligned and supported [5].…”

“…During early development, a child with CP inevitably stays in limited lying postures for long durations, due to difficulty changing positions [2]. At early stages of development, most children freely flex their legs up in the air and sway them from left to right.…”