Predictors of community participation from preschool to school age in children with cerebral palsy.
Daniela A Testani, Heather Shearer, Gillian King and 6 others
PMID 40263642WHAT IT FOUND
Children with cerebral palsy participated far less in their community than at home, and this gap persisted from preschool to school age.
Preschoolers rated as having strengths in prosocial behaviour had higher community participation at school age.
Key findings
01Community participation was consistently lower than home participation at both preschool and school age.
02Preschoolers with strengths in prosocial behaviour had higher community participation at school age compared to those with difficulties.
03Family characteristics like income, ethnicity, and residence type were not associated with school age community participation.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for OTsWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
Participation was measured by frequency only, not quality or engagement. Two different measures were used at the two time points (YC-PEM and PEM-CY), though they overlap significantly. The models explained a small amount of variance (26% for child, 8% for family), indicating other unmeasured factors influence participation. Communication function and family disability support were excluded from the main analysis due to high missing data rates.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest. The study was funded by the Ontario Brain Institute.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume that improving gross motor function will automatically increase community participation. Motor levels were not significant predictors in this study, while prosocial behaviour was.
Summarised by AI from the full paper, without a clinician reviewing it. Check it against the source before it changes what you do. Read it on PubMed →