Authors: Mintaze Kerem Gunel Akmer Mutlu Tulay Tarsuslu Ayse Livanelioglu
Publish Date: 2008/06/13
Volume: 168, Issue: 4, Pages: 477-485
Abstract
The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship among functional classification systems the Manual Ability Classification System MACS the Gross Motor Function Classification System GMFCS and the functional status WeeFIM in children with spastic cerebral palsy CP One hundred and eightyfive children with spastic CP 101 males 84 females 65 351 diparetic 60 324 quadriparetic and 60 324 hemiparetic children ranging from 4 to 15 years of age with a median age of 7 years were included in the study The children were classified according to the GMFCS for their motor function and according to the MACS for the functioning of their hands when handling objects in daily activities The functional status and performance were assessed by using the Functional Independence Measure of Children WeeFIM A good correlation between the GMFCS and MACS was found in all children r = 0735 p 001 There was also a correlation between the GMFCS and WeeFIM subscales according to subtypes and all parameters were correlated at the level of p 001 the same as the MACS There was no difference in the MACS scores among the age groups of 4–7 8–11 and 12–15 years p 005 The use of both the GMFCS and MACS in practice and in research areas will provide an easy practical and simple classification of the functional status of children with CP The adaptation of both of these scales and WeeFIM and using these scales together give the opportunity for a detailed analysis of the functional level of children with spastic CP and reflect the differences between clinical types of CP
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