| 소속 |
Seoul National University Hospital, Department of Rehabilitation Medicine1, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, Department of Rehabilitation Medicine2, Chungbuk National University, Research Institute of Human Ecology3, Korea Textile Development Institute, Smart Convergence Research Team4 |
INTRODUCTION:
Cerebral palsy (CP) is one of the most common physical disabilities in childhood, and affects around 1 per 500 children. Although motor dysfunction is the primary impairment in CP, growth and nutrition disorders are prevalent as well, and they can impact on health including motor function, physical deformity, psychological and physiological function, and survival. Especially, hip dislocation is known as the second most common deformity accompanied in CP, however, the only proven therapeutic technique for hip dislocation is surgery. Therefore, we planned to make the elastic type hip brace to prevent progression of hip dislocation in CP patients, but there was no reference data of somatometric characteristics in young CP patients for making specialized pants. To develop standardized somatometric parameters, we measured them in both CP and healthy children.
OBJECTIVE:
To find out the standard data of somatometric parameters in patients with CP and compare with those of healthy, age matched children (NL).
METHODS:
A total of 196 children (CP: 70, NL: 126), age between 1 and 8 years, were recruited in the tertiary rehabilitation hospital. Somatometric parameters were measured in all participants, with a tape 2 cm above belly as reference mark. Parameters we measured are as follow: height, weight, body mass index (BMI), leg length, knee length, crotch length, waist to hip length, thigh vertical length, chest circumference, hip circumference, waist circumference, thigh circumference, mid-thigh circumference, knee circumference, calf circumference, waist circumference (omphalion), minimum calf circumference. To compare the parameters between CP and NL, Mann-Whitney U-test was used, and P-value of less than .05 was considered statistically significant. When comparing children in age more than 6, we used previously published standard data for healthy children.
RESULTS:
Each parameter`s mean value and growth curve with age are presented in Table 1, Figure 1 and 2. There were significant differences between CP and NL, especially in age group 3~4, 7~8 and in male. Especially, most of the parameters were significantly lower in CP than NL in male. Also, in NL group, almost all parameters were increasing as getting older (Figure 1), but in female CP group, there were few exceptions such as crotch length, waist to hip length, hip circumference, waist circumference, thigh circumference, mid-thigh circumference, knee circumference, calf circumference, waist circumference, and minimum calf circumference (Figure 2).
CONCLUSION:
We present the somatometric characteristics for young CP children. They are not only different from those of healthy children, but they do not follow usual increasing growth curve with age. These standardized somatometric data are expected to be used for making specialized clothes for CP children. |
