Activities and participation of 9- to 13-year-old children with cerebral palsy.

Objective: To describe the activities and participation of children with cerebral palsy and to examine the relationship with personal factors and disease characteristics.

Design: Cross-sectional study.

Setting: Department of Rehabilitation Medicine of a University Medical Center in The Netherlands.

Subjects: One hundred and ten children: 70 boys, 40 girls, mean (SD) age 11 years and 3 months (20 months).

Outcome Measures: Activities and participation, described in the domains of mobility, self-care, domestic life, social life and communication, measured with the Gross Motor Function Measure, the Pediatric Evaluation of Disability Inventory and the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales.

Results: Multiple linear regression models showed that the Gross Motor Function Classification System (GMFCS) was strongly associated with mobility (explained variance 87-92%), self-care and domestic life. Apart from the GMFCS, cognitive impairment and limb distribution were less important but also significantly associated with self-care and domestic life (explained variance 65-81%). Cognitive impairment and epilepsy were the most important factors associated with social life and communication (explained variance 54-75%).

Conclusion: Activities and participation can, to a large extent, be explained by only a few associated factors.