Use of health services and unmet needs among adults with cerebral palsy in Ireland.

The database was voluntary and included only people using services or likely to need services in the next 5 years, so it may miss adults with cerebral palsy who are not registered. Adults with cerebral palsy and intellectual disability were probably in a different database and were not included, so results do not represent that group. The paper did not collect standard cerebral palsy motor function levels. Wheelchair use was used as a rough sign of more severe motor impairment, but it is not the same measure. Data came from questionnaire-style records entered by service providers, so answers may be biased or incomplete. The study is cross-sectional, so it can show association with service use but cannot show cause, cannot show that therapy improves outcomes, and cannot show why services were not received. Some estimates were uncertain because the range around them was very wide. The sample was not a random or representative population of adults with cerebral palsy in Ireland. Older adults used therapy less often, but the study did not measure whether their need was lower or whether services were available.

The paper names the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland as funder. It does not provide a further conflict-of-interest statement in the supplied text.

Do not conclude that adults aged 25 to 65 years need less physiotherapy, occupational therapy, or speech and language therapy. They were less likely to use these services than adults aged 18 to 24 years, but the study did not measure whether their need was lower.