The Relationship Between Clinical Motor and Communication Levels of Children with Cerebral Palsy, And Competencies From Parents' Perspectives

Abstract

In this study, it was investigated whether there is a relationship between the clinical motor and communication levels of children with CP in terms of physiotherapy and the perceived competency levels from the parents' perspective. The study involved children with CP who were referred to physiotherapy counseling and their caregivers took part in the study. In the evaluation process, the Gross Motor Function Classification System (GMFCS), the Communication Function Classification System (CFCS), the Visual Analog Scale (VAS) for evaluating the level of communication from the parent's eyes and the Katz Index for measuring activities of daily living were used. A total of 110 children with CP (F/M: 51/59, mean age: 6.74±3.48 years) and their caregivers participated in the study. Communication levels were good for 30.6% of the children, and motor levels were good for 27.9% of them. The mean activity of daily living was 9.11±8.52. The child's proficiency level, according to the perspective of the parents, was found to be 6.22±3.29 on average. Positive correlations were found between the level of child communication skills as perceived by the parents, the CFCS level (r = 0.770; p