Feasibility study of the assessment of upper limb function in children with Unilateral Cerebral Palsy using an end-effector robotic device.

28 participants and no control group mean the study cannot show that MOTORE is better than usual assessment or that it improves outcomes. The analysed sample included only MACS level I and II participants, so it says little about children with greater daily hand-use limitations. The robot tasks always used the less affected arm first, and learning effects were not measured, so arm differences may be partly due to testing order. The protocol did not include repeated testing, so test-retest reliability and measurement error in children were not established. MOTORE was originally designed for adults, and clinicians had slightly lower acceptability scores than children. The authors state the findings are exploratory and the robotic indices are research tools only.

Do not read this as proof that MOTORE improves upper limb function or can replace clinical assessment. It was a small feasibility study with no control group, no repeated testing, and fixed arm order, and the authors say the robot indices are research tools only.