Quantitative comparison of mobility and gross motor function in Brazilian children with cerebral palsy

Background: Cerebral palsy (CP) presents changes in posture and movement as a core characteristic, which requires therapeutic monitoring during the habilitation or rehabilitation of children. Besides clinical treatment, it is fundamental that professionals use systems of evaluation to quantify the difficulties presented to the individual and assist in the organization of a therapeutic program. The aim of this study was to quantitatively verify the performance of children with spastic di-paresia type CP. Methods: The Pediatric Evaluation of Disability Inventory (PEDI) and Gross Motor Function Classification System (GMFM) tests were used and classification made through the GMFCS in the assessment of 7 patients with CP, 4 females and 3 males, average age of 9 years old. Results: According to GMFCS scales, 17% (n=1) were level II and 83% (n=6) were level III. The PEDI test and 88 GMFM items were used in the area of mobility. We observed that there was high correlation between mobility and gross motor function with Pearson's correlation coefficient =0.929) showing the likely impact of these areas in the functional skills and the quality of life of these patients. Conclusion: We suggest the impact of the limitation of the areas in functional skills and quality of life of these patients.

Auditory and communicative abilities in the auditory neuropathy spectrum disorder and mutation in the Otoferlin gene: clinical cases study

This study had the aim to investigate the auditory and communicative abilities of children diagnosed with Auditory Neuropathy Spectrum Disorder due to mutation in the Otoferlin gene. It is a descriptive and qualitative study in which two siblings with this diagnosis were assessed. The procedures conducted were: speech perception tests for children with profound hearing loss, and assessment of communication abilities using the Behavioral Observation Protocol. Because they were siblings, the subjects in the study shared family and communicative context. However, they developed different communication abilities, especially regarding the use of oral language. The study showed that the Auditory Neuropathy Spectrum Disorder is a heterogeneous condition in all its aspects, and it is not possible to make generalizations or assume that cases with similar clinical features will develop similar auditory and communicative abilities, even when they are siblings. It is concluded that the acquisition of communicative abilities involves subjective factors, which should be investigated based on the uniqueness of each case.