Forced use therapy to improve hand function in spastic cerebral palsy children

Introduction: Prehension, the ability to grasp, hold and manipulate objects is an important hand function. Impairment in hand function makes it difficult to fulfill activities of daily living.

Objectives: To assess the effect of forced use therapy (FUT) in improving hand function of hemiplegic cerebral palsy children.

Outcome measures: Modified Ashworth scale, Fegl Meyer assessment upper extremity, 9-hole peg board, upper extremity functional index and caregiver functional use survey are the outcome measures.

Method: Fifty two children with cerebral palsy were divided into 2 groups A and B, 26 subjects in each group. Group A was given conventional hand function exercise whilst group B was given forced hand use therapy. Both groups received the treatment for 45 minutes for the affected limb for 5 days a week. But the FUT group was administered with gloves to constraint the hand movement for 6 hours daily. They were administered with the protocol for 4 weeks and outcomes were measured pre- and post-treatment duration.

Results: FUT showed significantly better improvement over the conventional group in outcome measures (p <0.05)

Conclusions: FUT caused reduction in spasticity and increased functional ability in children with spastic hemiplegic cerebral palsy.

Sri Lanka Journal of Child Health, 2020; 49(4): 335-340