Growth patterns in children with cerebral palsy and the range of treatments provided: a cross-sectional study of data from five rehabilitation centers

BACKGROUND: Measurement and evaluation of anthropometric data of children with cerebral palsy are essential for the development of national patient registers. Studies of the patients' anthropometric parameters observed in rehabilitation centres make it possible to form a broad sample for research. AIM: To study the growth patterns of children with cerebral palsy depending on the degree of impairment of global motor functions, age, and gender; to compare the developmental patterns with published reference data of children with cerebral palsy; to evaluate the range of treatment used and the frequency of its elements in children treated and monitored in rehabilitation centres who participated in the study. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In a prospective study, measurements were collected through 2023 at five rehabilitation centers. 178 patients met inclusion criteria. The parameters of height, weight, BMI and their deviations from reference data for children with cerebral palsy were studied. The range of treatments provided in addition to physical rehabilitation was examined. RESULTS: We found a significant difference in height indices (z-score values were higher than 0.7) compared to previously proposed North American reference anthropometric data for children with cerebral palsy. In our cohort, the increase in height score was independent of age, sex and GMFCS level. On the other hand, the concordance of weight and BMI was close to the reference charts. We believe that in order to monitor the development of children with cerebral palsy, it is necessary to create our own database of anthropometric data, calculating charts and percentiles of development. CONCLUSION: The strategy for future research should also focus on the creation of regional registries of patients with cerebral palsy, which are necessary for multifactorial analysis taking into account epigenetic factors. In our sample of patients, the range and choice of treatments can be considered quite satisfactory — the frequency of orthopaedic surgery for secondary orthopaedic complications is around 40% of cases.