Amr A. Abo Gazya, Abdel Aziz A. Serief, Ayman Gouda Matar, Wael Shendy, Hamada Ahmed Hamada

Amr A. Abo Gazya, Abdel Aziz A. Serief, Ayman Gouda Matar, Wael Shendy, Hamada Ahmed Hamada – Impact of Hand-Arm Bimanual Intensive Therapy Versus Shock Wave Therapy on Hand Function and Grip Strength in Children with Hemiplegic Cerebral Palsy. Fizjoterapia Polska 2020; 20(1); 92-98

Abstract
Background and purpose. Children with hemiplegic cerebral palsy have impairments in fine motor skills above and beyond their unilateral impairments. The current study was conducted to compare the effect of hand-arm bimanual intensive therapy (HABIT) versus shock wave therapy on the affected upper extremity in children with hemiplegic cerebral palsy. Materials and methods. Thirty hemiplegic children ranged in age from 4 to 8 years with hand spasticity ranged between 1 and 1+ grades according to the Modified Ashworth Scale participated in this study. They were assigned randomly into two equal study groups. Group A received a designed physical therapy program and shock wave therapy one session 2000 shock, while the group B received the same physical therapy program in addition to bimanual arm therapy. Both groups received treatment sessions three times per week for three successive moths. Each child in the two groups was evaluated before and after the suggested treatment duration for detecting the level of hand performance using the Peabody Developmental Test of Motor Proficiency while, hand grip strength by a hand held dynamometer and active abduction and external rotation range of motion were measured by a standard universal goniometer. Results. The results revealed non-significant differences when comparing the pre-treatment mean values of all measuring variables for the two groups (p > 0.05), while significant improvement was observed in the two groups when comparing their pre and post treatment mean values. Also, significant differences were observed when comparing the post treatment results of the two groups in favor of the group B (p < 0.05). Conclusion. The results suggested that, hand-arm bimanual intensive therapy appears to have a positive impact on hand function in children with hemiplegic cerebral palsy.

Key words:
Cerebral palsy, Hemiplegic, Hand-arm bimanual intensive therapy, shock wave therapy