Background

Although children with spastic cerebral palsy (CP) commonly present with restricted passive range of motion (PROM) and contractures, knowledge about the child’s characteristics that increase the risk of development of restricted PROM is limited. Identifying children who are more likely to develop contractures is important for early detection and the provision of appropriate medical management. This study aims to identify the most commonly restricted PROM of children with spastic CP, and (2) to examine the combined effect of a child’s age, gender, gross motor functional classification level, and CP subtype on the development of restricted PROM in children with spastic CP.

Methods

The PROM of 233 children diagnosed with CP were extracted from the national registry of CP in Jordan (CPUP-Jordan) in addition to information about children’s age, gender, level of Gross Motor Furcation Classification System-Expanded and Revised (GMFCS-E&R), and subtype of CP. The mean age of the participants was 3.73 years (SD= 3.14), 57.5% were males, and 80.3% had bilateral spastic CP. Point biserial correlations were calculated between the PROM and the child’s variables. Multiple binary logistic regressions were conducted to identify the predictors of PROM.

Results

Hip abduction was the most common restricted PROM (57.9%), whereas the hip extension was the least (2.1%). Children with older ages demonstrated more restrictions in knee extension and ankle dorsiflexion; males demonstrated more restriction in hip abduction than females; children with lower GMFCS-E&R levels had more restrictions in hip internal rotation but fewer restrictions in hip abduction and ankle dorsiflexion; and children with bilateral spastic CP had more restrictions in hip abduction than children with unilateral spastic CP.

Conclusions

PROM of the hip, knee, ankle joints of children with spastic CP were predicted by different sets of child characteristics. Implications for health professionals and follow-up registries of children with CP are provided.