Effect of Segmental Trunk Support on Posture and Reaching in Children With Cerebral Palsy.
Victor Santamaria, Jaya Rachwani, Sandra Saavedra and 1 others
PMID 27341576WHAT IT FOUND
Supporting the trunk at the ribs, not the pelvis, improved reaching for children with moderate CP.
Severe CP required high axillary support for posture. Mild CP showed no benefit from any trunk support. Match the support height to the child's specific trunk control deficit.
Key findings
01Children with moderate trunk control deficits had worse reaching kinematics (slower, less straight) when supported only at the pelvis compared to the mid-ribs or axillae.
02Children with severe trunk control deficits could not maintain posture or reach when supported only at the pelvis; they required support at the mid-ribs or axillae to perform the task.
03Children with mild trunk control deficits showed no significant differences in posture or reaching performance across the three levels of trunk support.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for OTs
Read the rest of this summary
You get three full summaries a month, free, and we do not ask for a card. Search, the TL;DRs and your library stay unlimited either way.
What it does not show
Small sample size (17 children), particularly in the severe group (n=4), limits generalizability. Unequal group sizes. Cognitive and visuomotor impairments in the severe group may have influenced reaching performance independently of trunk support. The study was cross-sectional; it did not test whether training at a specific support level improves function over time. Results apply to a specific experimental setup (sitting on a bench with feet off the floor), which may not replicate typical chair seating.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest. The work was supported by the National Institutes of Health.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume that higher trunk support is always better. The study found that for children with mild deficits, extra support did not improve performance, and for those with severe deficits, the type of support involved trade-offs (e.g., axillae support improved head alignment but increased trunk rotation). Match the support to the specific segmental deficit.