Effect of task-oriented training and high-variability practice on gross motor performance and activities of daily living in children with spastic diplegia.
Hae-Yeon Kwon, So-Yoon Ahn
PMID 27821947WHAT IT FOUND
Adding task-oriented or high-variability practice to standard treatment improved gross motor skills and daily living independence in children with spastic diplegia.
High-variability practice also improved cognition, while task-oriented training did not.
Key findings
01Both task-oriented training and high-variability practice groups showed greater improvement in total gross motor function than the control group receiving neurodevelopmental treatment alone.
02Both intervention groups showed greater gains in functional independence for daily living activities compared to the control group.
03Only the high-variability practice group showed significant improvement in the cognitive domain compared to baseline.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for OTsWhat it means for SLPs
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
The study was very small, with only seven children in each group, making the results difficult to generalize. The cognitive measure used was part of a functional independence scale, not a dedicated cognitive assessment, so the findings about cognition are less robust. The paper does not report whether the assessors were blinded to the group allocation, which introduces potential bias.
Declared interests
No specific funding sources or conflicts of interest were declared in the text provided.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume high-variability practice is superior to task-oriented training for motor skills. Both groups improved motor function and daily living similarly, and the difference in stability scores between them was small.