A Qualitative Study on Parents and Caregiver of Children with Cerebral Palsy's Opinions about the Value of and Compliance with Exercise Regimen

Background: Cerebral palsy (CP) is a prevalent childhood disability caused by developmental issues in the brain, leading to movement and posture impairments. Caregivers of children with CP often experience heightened stress due to factors such as the caregiver's attributes, the extent of the child's disability, their shared history, and social elements. Despite the family-centered approach in research, a comprehensive perspective on the overall impact on parents and factors influencing their coping mechanisms is lacking. Our study aims to fill this gap by exploring caregivers' perceptions of the value of and compliance with prescribed exercise regimens for children with CP, contributing to the development of more effective, holistic, and family-centered interventions for managing CP. Aim of the study: Explore perceptions about the value of exercise regimens for children with cerebral palsy. Objective: To evaluate the importance of exercises in terms of physical, general health and psychological well-being in children with cerebral palsy (CP). Material and Method: A total of 100 participants, male and female from different areas and town of Surat city were selected for the study as per the eligibility criteria. Age range of the child was 1-15 years. An interview-based questionnaire was developed to assess the awareness and validated for its content validity by five experts. After validation, participants were asked to fill out the questionnaire and the data was transferred to Microsoft excel and IBM SPSS for further analysis. Result: Among the study participants, 85% of respondents emphasize importance of exercises. 57% reported significant improvements in mobility. While more significant improvements are noted in muscle strength (60%) and coordination and balance (62%). The impact of exercises on overall health is considered significant by 72% and on independency was 57%. Furthermore, 67% highlight the significant role of exercises in encouraging emotional wellbeing and confidence building. Conclusion: Individuals were found to have a good understanding of the importance of exercise to improve overall health, balance coordination, muscle strength, confidence, social interaction in Surat city. It is more significant with education of the parents and caregiver of child with cerebral palsy. This study showed that opinion about the value of and compliance with exercise regimen was equivalent to that of developed countries Keywords: Cerebral Palsy (CP), Parenting caregivers, Exercise regimen, Physiotherapy, Pediatric rehabilitation, Perspectives, Caregiver burden, Therapy adherence.