Cerebral Palsy
Conditions
Keywords
Cerebral Palsy, Non ambulatory, Neuromuscular disability, Children
Brief summary
The goal of this project is to design and validate a force-measuring platform that will measure the magnitude and duration of the load experienced by the lower extremities of individuals with a neuromuscular disability who use a stationary assisted standing device to increase their Bone Mineral Density.
Detailed description
Non-ambulatory children with a neuromuscular disability are at significant risk for poor bone health as reflected by low bone mineral density (BMD) and increased propensity to fracture. In large part, this is due to abnormally low levels of load experienced by the skeleton. A common approach for increasing BMD is to stimulate the musculoskeletal system by increasing the amount and duration of weight-bearing in the lower extremities. For non-ambulatory individuals, this typically takes the form of using an assisted standing device to enable the child to spend time in a standing position so that their lower limbs can experience some degree of body weight. Some of these physical interventions result in varying degrees of improvement in BMD, and some do not. This lack of clarity in outcomes may result from a failure to objectively measure the magnitude and duration of the load experienced by the lower extremities. A lack of change in BMD may be due to the extremities experiencing only a fraction of the body weight due to load-sharing with the assistive device, or to an inadequate duration of standing time. The goal of this project will be to design and validate a force-measuring platform that will measure the magnitude and duration of the load experienced by the lower extremities of individuals with a neuromuscular disability who use a stationary assisted standing device to increase their BMD.
Interventions
Assisted standing treatment program will include at least 2 hours a day, 5 days a week (a total of at least 10 hours a week) for a period of \ 9 months. Arm: Force-measuring platform
Sponsors
University of Minnesota
Gillette Children's Specialty Healthcare
Study design
Allocation
NA
Intervention model
SINGLE_GROUP
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
NONE
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
No minimum to 17 Years
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
1. \< 18 years old 2. Diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy (CP) 3. Treated at Gillette Children's Specialty Healthcare 4. Gross Motor Function Classification System level of IV or V (non-ambulatory without assistance) 5. Participating in a standing program using a stationary assisted standing device 6. Parent/Guardian willing and able to give consent
Exclusion criteria
None
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Bone Mineral Density | 12 months | Bone Mineral Density will be measured via dual energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA) and peripheral quantitative computed tomography (pQCT) scans. |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Weight (load)experienced by lower extremities | 12 months | A platform will measure the magnitude of the load experienced by the lower extremities of individuals with a neuromuscular disability who use a stationary assisted standing device to increase their Bone Mineral Density. |
| Duration of standing treatment session(s) (time) | 12 months | A platform will measure the duration of the load experienced by the lower extremities of individuals with a neuromuscular disability who use a stationary assisted standing device to increase their Bone Mineral Density. |
| Caregiver Priorities & Child Health Index of Life with Disabilities (CPCHILD) questionnaire | 12 months | The CPCHILD© measures caregivers' perspectives on the health status, comfort, well being, functional abilities and ease of caregiving of children with severe developmental disabilities. It was developed to measure the effectiveness of interventions intended to improve or preserve these outcomes for children with severe disabilities, including non-ambulant children with severe cerebral palsy, and traumatic or other acquired brain injuries. This will help determine if care-givers perception of health status changes with changes in standing magnitude and duration. |
Countries
United States
Outcome results
None listed