Physical therapy interventions to improve sitting ability in children with or at‐risk for cerebral palsy: a systematic review and meta‐analysis

Abstract

Aim To conduct a systematic review and meta‐analysis on the effectiveness of physical therapy interventions to improve sitting ability in young children with or at risk for cerebral palsy (CP). Method A systematic literature search was performed using five databases. Study selection criteria were randomized controlled trials published in English on physical therapy interventions targeting sitting, reporting developmental or functional sitting outcomes, and focused on young children with or at risk for CP (mean age ≤5y). Risk of bias (ROB) was assessed using the Cochrane ROB 2.0 tool. Results Twelve unique studies met the inclusion criteria and were categorized into one of two categories: (1) comparison of two physical therapy interventions or (2) physical therapy plus adjunct versus physical therapy alone. The combined pooled effect size (g) for the 10 studies included in meta‐analysis was large (g=0.78) but non‐significant. Pooled effect for category 1 was small (g=–0.06) and non‐significant. Interventions in category 2 showed a large and significant effect (g=1.90, p=0.022). Interpretation There is a lack of strong evidence for physical therapy interventions targeting sitting in young children with or at‐risk for CP due to limitations in methodological rigor and sample sizes. Components of impairment remediation combined with functional balance training should be explored to improve sitting in children diagnosed with CP. Given the benefits of early achievement of sitting, strong evidence‐based research is needed. What this paper adds Strong evidence is lacking for physical therapy interventions to improve sitting ability in young children with/at risk for cerebral palsy (CP). Kinesio‐taping may be an effective adjunct to conventional physical therapy in improving sitting ability in children with spastic bilateral CP. Task‐specific, intensive, and child‐initiated intervention components show promise for improving sitting in young infants at risk for CP.

Postural control telerehabilitation with a low-cost virtual reality protocol for children with cerebral palsy: Protocol for a clinical trial

“…This diversity habitually demands for tailored therapy that is not easily accessible, especially in low-resource and/or rural settings. Then, this heterogeneity is consistent with the plethora of interventions available that are hard to standardize precisely because of the diversity of patients, their needs, environments, and resources, among other aspects [36][37][38][39] .…”

Infant posture and caregiver‐provided cognitive opportunities in typically developing infants and infants with motor delay

“…The relative disadvantage of supported compared to independent sitting suggests that finding ways to provide this experience while keeping caregivers’ hands free and promoting face‐to‐face orientations may be important. The third is to aggressively employ interventions to improve postural skill (Inamdar, Molinini, Panibatla, Chow, & Dusing, 2020) so that infants learn to sit more quickly; such interventions should include integration of cognitive opportunities into sitting practice (Harbourne et al., 2021). These approaches are not mutually exclusive, and the optimal intervention to promote learning in infants with neuromotor disorders likely includes a combination of all three strategies.…”

Effects of Kinesio Taping on Edema Control in Patients With Musculoskeletal Injuries: A Literature Review

“…Once we looked up the review articles on KT published over the past 5 years through the Medical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System Online (MEDLINE) (accessed via PubMed), a total of 52 studies were identified. Most of 52 studies are on cerebral palsy [13][14][15], low back pain [16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23], ankle functional performance [24][25][26], knee osteoarthritis (OA) [27][28][29][30][31][32][33], shoulder pain and disability [34][35][36][37][38], breast lymphedema [7,39], rehabilitation after stroke [40][41][42] and so on; however, there are only four studies related to edema [43][44][45][46]. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to review the literature on KT for reducing edema caused by musculoskeletal disorders and investigate whether the use of KT have any effects on controlling edema.…”