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Background No studies to date have examined the daily time spent across a variety of activity types (sleep, screen time, physical activity, domestic and school-related) in children with cerebral palsy (CP). Aim To investigate the activity patterns of adolescents with CP and contrast them with those of typically developing (TD) adolescents, using a use-of-time approach. Methods Forty-one Australian adolescents with CP and 82 TD adolescents matched for age, sex, weight status and socio-economic status undertook structured interviews using a validated computerized use of time recall administered over 4 days. Time devoted to sleep, screen time, physical activity, domestic and school-related activity were compared using anova and Mann-Whitney tests. Results Adolescents with CP spent less time in physical activity (91 vs. 147 min/day, P= 0.0003), and in particular, its sub-components of active transport (28 vs. 52 min/day, P= 0.0013) and team sports (25 vs. 39 min/day, P= 0.04). They experienced significantly more quiet time (116 vs. 80 min/day, P= 0.0025) but spent less time in social interaction (6 vs. 22 min/day, P= 0.0016). There were no significant differences in sleep, screen time, domestic activities or school-related time. Conclusions By and large, the activity patterns of ambulatory adolescents with CP were similar to their TD peers. Results highlight physical activity in younger adolescents (11-13 years) as an area for targeted interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]