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Cerebral palsy is a term covering non-progressive motor and cognitive impairments caused by lesions of the brain. This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of virtual reality-based rehabilitation program for children with hemiplegic cerebral palsy on cognitive functions. Ninety children (47 boys, 43 girls) with hemiplegic cerebral palsy were randomized to either study (n = 45; 11.18 ± 3.37 years) or control (n = 45; 11.06 ± 3.24 years) groups. The study group received virtual reality intervention in addition to Traditional Occupational Therapy intervention, and the control group received Traditional Occupational Therapy for 20 sessions. Both groups were evaluated by blinded assessors with Dynamic Occupational Therapy Cognitive Assessment for Children to collect information on cognitive functioning. Both groups' cognitive functions were improved after 10 weeks of interventions. The between-group comparison revealed significantly greater improvements in all subtest of cognitive functions in the virtual reality group than in the Traditional Occupational Therapy group (P < 0.001). Our results showed that 10 weeks of virtual reality-based rehabilitation enhanced cognitive functions in children with hemiplegic cerebral palsy. Using virtual reality applications in cognitive rehabilitation was recommended to improve spatial perception, praxis, visuomotor construction and thinking operations in children with cerebral palsy.

Aim: This study was designed to investigate the effects of virtual reality (VR) through Kinect on both gross and fine motor functions and independence in daily living activities in children with unilateral spastic cerebral palsy (USCP). Materials and Methods: This study was designed as a single-blind, randomized, controlled trial. Sixty children with USCP were randomized and split equally between the VR intervention group (10 females and 20 males with a mean age of 10.5 ± 3.62 years) and the traditional occupational therapy (TOT) intervention group (13 females and 17 males with a mean age of 10.06 ± 3.24 years). Both groups were evaluated in terms of motor functioning via the Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency-Short Form (BOTMP-SF) and were assessed in accordance with independence in daily activities via the WeeFunctional Independence Measure (WeeFIM). Interventions were conducted for 8 weeks with the main objective of improving motor functions and independence in daily activities. Results: Total motor functions and total independence in daily lives in both groups improved after 8 weeks of intervention. A comparison between groups revealed significantly greater improvements in both gross and fine motor functions and daily activities in the VR group than in the TOT group ( P  < 0.001). Conclusion: The Kinect-based VR intervention approach is important to improving motor functions and independence in daily activities of children with USCP.

Objective: The aim of this study was to compare the fine and gross motor skills of children with diplegic cerebral palsy (CP) according to gender. Methods: This study included 73 children with diplegic CP (39 males, mean age: 8.76±1.4; 34 females mean age: 8.29±1.31 years) aged between 6 to 12 years. Bruininks-Oseretsky Test 2-Short Form (BOT2-SF), consisting of 8 subtests and 12 items, was used to evaluate the gross and fine motor skills of children. Fine and gross motor skills of children with CP were compared with Student's t-test. Results: According to gender, the BOT2-SF total score and fine motor precision, bilateral coordination and upper-limb coordination scores of sub-tests were statistically significant higher in girls than in boys (p<0.05). Conclusion: The results of our current study reflect that fine and gross motor skills of girls with diplegic CP are better than boys. Physiotherapists and ergotherapists should first determine the fine and gross motor skill problems with objective measurement methods and especially consider the differences between genders when determining an integrated multi-factor therapeutic approach for children with diplegic CP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Turkiye Klinikleri Journal of Health Sciences / Türkiye Klinikleri Sağlık Bilimleri Dergisi is the property of Turkiye Klinikleri and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Purpose: Cerebral palsy (CP) is a comprehensive term covering non-progressive motor and cognitive impairment syndromes caused by lesions of the brain occurring early in development. The aim was to evaluate the effects of virtual reality (VR) based, the rehabilitation program for children with CP on cognitive abilities and independence in activities of daily living (ADL). Methods: Twenty-two participants with hemiplegic CP with 11.18 ± 3.37 years mean age was conducted to the study. Dynamic Occupational Therapy Cognitive Assessment for Children (DOTCA-Ch) and Wee-Functional Independence Measurement (WeeFIM) were used to assess children. Each child received two VR sessions in a week for 6 weeks. Sessions were between 45 and 60 minutes in duration. Training was performed using the Microsoft Kinect for PC games software, including running, jumping, boxing, and kicking in both standing and sitting positions. Results: Twenty-two children with hemiplegic CP (10 females and 12 males) were included. After 6 weeks of intervention, all scales of Dotca-Ch and independence in ADL (WeeFIM) were repeated. There was a statistically significant increase in the differences between the pre and post interventions (p<0.05). Conclusions: Our results showed that 6 weeks of VR based rehabilitation increased cognitive skills and independence in activities of daily living. Using VR in cognitive rehabilitation and to enhance independence in ADL were recommended in hemiplegic CP rehabilitation and researchers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Exercise Therapy & Rehabilitation is the property of Yavuz Yakut and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Journal of Exercise Therapy & Rehabilitation is the property of Yavuz Yakut and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)