Are Children with Cerebral Palsy and Developmental Disability Living Longer?

A robust literature addresses life expectancy (LE) for children with cerebral palsy (CP) and developmental disability (DD). A Medline data search was completed using the terms CP, DD, LE, survival, as well as other pertinent terms. Further articles were gleaned from bibliographies of pertinent literature. Key disabilities accurately predict LE in children with CP and DD: (1) presence and severity of developmental disability, (2) inability to speak intelligible words, (3) inability to recognize voices, (4) inability to interact with peers, (4) severity of physical disability, (5) use of tube feeding, (6) incontinence, (7) cortical blindness, and (8) presence and severity of seizures. Children with CP and DD have a diminished LE, which can be accurately assessed based on simple clinical examination findings. Over the last 50 years there has been improvement in life expectancy based on comparison of newer and older studies. However in approximately the last 20 years, there has been only slight improvement in LE, and this has been found only in the most profoundly impaired children with CP and DD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]