Auditory stimulation improves motor function and caretaker burden in children with cerebral palsy - A randomized double blind study

Hilla Ben-Pazi, Adi Aran, Anand Pandyan, Nava Gelkop, Gary Ginsberg, Yehuda Pollak, Debby Elnatan*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

14 Scopus citations

Abstract

Aim To investigate the impact of auditory stimulation on motor function in children with cerebral palsy (CP) and disabling hypertonia. Method 9 matched pairs (age: 7y5m, SD 4y1m; 13 boys; gross-motor-functional-classification-scale: median 4; manual-ability-classification-system: median 4) were randomized to receive either auditory stimulation embedded in music (study, n = 9) or music alone (sham, control, n = 9) for at least 10 minutes 4 times a week for 4 weeks. Goal-Attainment-Scale, Care-and-Comfort-Hypertonicity-Questionnaire, Gross-Motor-Function–Measure and Quality-of-Upper-Extremity-Skills-Test (QUEST) were assessed before and 5 months following intervention. Result Children receiving auditory stimulation attained more goals than children who listened to music alone (p = 0.002). Parents reported improved care and comfort in children in the study group compared to a slight deterioration in controls (p = 0.002). Upper extremity skills improved in the study group compared to controls (p = 0.006). Similar gross motor function changes were documented in both groups (p = 0.41). One participant reported increased seizure frequency; no other participants with epilepsy reported increased seizure frequency (n = 6/18) and no other adverse events were reported. Interpretation Auditory stimulation alleviated hypertonia and improved fine and gross motor functions.

Original languageEnglish
Article number0208792
JournalPLoS ONE
Volume13
Issue number12
DOIs
StatePublished - Dec 2018

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2018 Ben-Pazi et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

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