Effect of the frequency of therapy on the performance of activities of daily living in children with cerebral palsy.
Eun-Young Park, Eun-Joo Kim
PMID 29765186WHAT IT FOUND
Physical therapy frequency did not show significant differences in daily living skills.
Intensive occupational therapy was associated with a significant overall daily living skill improvement compared with bimonthly therapy, and therapy frequency was correlated with mobility and social function.
Key findings
01The frequency of physical therapy was significantly correlated with mobility, social function and total PEDI functional skill.
02The frequency of occupational therapy was significantly correlated with social function and total PEDI functional skill.
03When therapy frequency groups were compared, intensive occupational therapy differed significantly from bimonthly therapy on total PEDI functional skill, while physical therapy frequency groups did not differ significantly.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for OTs
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What it does not show
The children were not randomly assigned to therapy frequency, so severity, goals, family requests and insurance may have influenced how much therapy they received. The paper reports physical therapy and occupational therapy frequency separately, so it cannot show which service caused change when children received both. The intensive mode was a broad category, from 3 to 11 times a week, so it does not identify a precise effective frequency. Physical therapy frequency showed correlations but no significant group differences in daily living skill change, so the evidence is mixed. The authors state that clinical evidence for the relationship between treatment intensity and efficacy is still insufficient.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read this as proof that more physical therapy or occupational therapy will improve daily living skills. The study was observational, physical therapy frequency did not show significant group differences, and the authors said evidence for treatment intensity and efficacy is still insufficient.