Strength and Dexterity of Less Affected Hand of Hemiparetic Cerebral Palsy Children

Overview

The contralateral hand deficits are often masked by the complex clinical presentation of the more affected hand in children with spastic hemiparesis. Thus, intervention targeting the contralateral hand is not often a component of the child's rehabilitation plan of care. The presence of bilateral hand deficits, even if subtle in the contralateral hand, may limit the transfer of unimanual gains following rehabilitation to bimanual activities of daily living tasks. However, conservation of upper-limb function of the less-affected side is highly important for individuals with hemiparesis, because this side is often employed as a compensatory 'tool' in performing activities of daily living . Therefore, the current study will be conducted to determine and compare the motor abilities of the less affected hand of children with hemiparesis.

An impairment of the less affected hand of hemiparetic cerebral palsy children can be detrimental to the development of bimanual skills. It would be beneficial to identify and quantify the severity of any impairment of the less affected hand of hemiparetic cerebral palsy children. Hemiparetic cerebral palsy may present with substantial deficits in hand function, because bimanual activities involve the ability to use the affected and contralateral hands together for grasp and stabilization. Several authors have evaluated bimanual involvement in cerebral palsy but these studies have not compared the contralateral hand with norms. The less affected hand is widely regarded as "normal" or "unaffected" and is consequently rarely evaluated. Several authors have reported incidental findings of subtle deficits in the less affected extremity, noted that hemiparetic children "also presented motor impairments in their non-paretic hand, especially in dexterity. The purpose of this study is to assess the grip ,pinch strength and dexterity of less affected hand of hemiparetic cerebral palsy children and compare with dominant hand of normal peers

Conditions