The health of children and young people with cerebral palsy: a longitudinal, population-based study.

Background: Cerebral palsy (CP) is a chronic condition about which little is known in relation to the long term stability of and factors influencing health.

Objectives: To describe the health status of 4-17 year olds with ambulant CP, compare with the general population and identify factors predicting change in health over time.

Design: A longitudinal, clinical survey.

Setting: A regional hospital-based Gait Analysis Laboratory.

Participants: Those aged 4-17 years and able to walk at least 10m independently were identified from a case register of people with CP. A total of 184 subjects took part (38% of all eligibles in the region); 154 (84%) returned for a second assessment on average 2.5 years later.

Methods: The Child Health Questionnaire (Parent-form-50) was completed by 184 parents at time 1, and 156 at time 2.

Results: Children and young people with CP have significantly poorer health across a number of domains when compared to children in the general child population. Over time improvements occurred in behaviour (p=0.01), family activities (p<0.001) and physical functioning (p=0.05). Linear regression showed that gross motor function (p<0.001) and cerebral palsy subtype (p<0.05) were associated with changes in physical functioning; age was associated with changes in behaviour (p=0.007) and family activities (p=0.01); and communication ability was significantly associated with changes in family activities (p=0.005).

Conclusions: Children and young people with CP have poorer health than their able bodied peers but relatively stable health over 2.5 years. Where change occurred, it was for the better.