Abstract

Background. Online-based home program allows continuous care at any time controls the economic demand and is considered as a perfect method for infection control. This study was conducted to study the effect of adding online-based versus photos-based home program to the traditional physical therapy program, on hand grasping skills and range of motion of wrist extension and forearm supination of the affected upper extremity for children with hemiplegic cerebral palsy following botulinum toxin A injection. Materials and methods. Thirty children with hemiplegic cerebral palsy were classified into two equal groups (A and B). Both groups received traditional physical therapy program in clinic in addition to online-based home program for group (A) and conventional photos-based home program for group (B). The measured variables were the grasp domains of Quality of Upper Extremity Skills Test and range of motion of wrist extension and forearm supination using electronic digital goniometer for the affected upper extremity before as well as after three successive months of treatment. Results. The study revealed significant improvement of all measured variables in both groups in post treatment compared to pretreatment values. Regarding between groups comparison, there was significant improvement in group (A) post treatment regarding grasp domain score compared to group (B), while there was non-significant difference regarding the range of motion of wrist extension and forearm supination. Conclusion. Adding online-based home program is more effective than adding photos-based home program to the traditional physical therapy program in improving hand grasping skills in children with hemiplegic cerebral palsy.

Key words:

botulinum toxin A, cerebral palsy, online-based home program, upper extremity functions