TABLE 1.
Differences of demographic, clinical and gait outcomes between participants with unilateral cerebral palsy (uCP, n = 105, 172 CGA) and bilateral cerebral palsy (bCP, n = 72, 117 CGA).
| uCP (172 CGA) | bCP (117 CGA) | Groups comparison |
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| P | ES | 95% CI | |||
| Demographic and clinical characteristics | |||||
| Age, years old | 12.4 (4.8) | 13.1 (5.1) | 0.240 | 0.143 | −1.9 to 0.5 |
| Female, n (%) | 79 (46%) | 42 (36%) | 0.115 | 0.146 | −2 to 22% |
| Body weight status | – | – | 0.361 | – | – |
| Underweight, n (%) | 18 (10%) | 14 (12%) | 0.835 | 0.003 | −10 to 7% |
| Normal weight, n (%) | 104 (60%) | 80 (68%) | 0.212 | 0.092 | −20 to 4% |
| Overweight, n (%) | 36 (21%) | 19 (16%) | 0.398 | 0.042 | −5 to 14% |
| Obese, n (%) | 12 (7%) | 4 (3%) | 0.300 | 0.063 | −2 to 9% |
| GMFCS Level | – | – | <0.001* | – | – |
| I, n (%) | 155 (90%) | 73 (62%) | <0.001* | 1.794 | 17–38% |
| II, n (%) | 14 (8%) | 37 (32%) | <0.001* | 1.461 | −34 to −13% |
| III, n (%) | 0 (0.0%) | 7 (6%) | 0.004* | 0.480 | −11 to −1% |
| Previous treatments | |||||
| BTX > 6 months before, n (%) | 72 (42%) | 40 (34%) | 0.234 | 0.083 | −4 to 20% |
| Surgery > 1 year before, n (%) | 62 (36%) | 37 (32%) | 0.515 | 0.025 | −7 to 16% |
| Composite impairment scores | |||||
| Spasticity composite score, 0–16 | 1.1 (1.6) | 3.0 (2.8) | <0.001* | 0.902 | 1.4–2.5 |
| Weakness composite score, 0–30 | 22.6 (4.0) | 23.0 (5.1) | 0.422 | 0.102 | −1.6 to 0.7 |
| Selectivity composite score, 0–12 | 9.5 (2.2) | 9.4 (2.7) | 0.751 | 0.039 | −0.5 to 0.7 |
| pROM composite score, 0–9 | 2.9 (1.7) | 2.2 (1.7) | 0.002* | 0.387 | 0.3–1.0 |
| General gait characteristics | |||||
| Walking speed, m/s | 1.11 (0.15) | 1.02 (0.25) | <0.001* | 0.451 | 0.04–0.14 |
| Normalized walking speed, (m/s)/LL | 1.45 (0.30) | 1.37 (0.39) | 0.060 | 0.240 | −0.01 to 0.17 |
| Gait deviation index (GDI) | 85.0 (11.3) | 81.2 (12.1) | 0.008* | 0.331 | 1.1–6.6 |
| Gait asymmetry | |||||
| Step time asymmetry, % | 13.9 (7.7) | 6.5 (6.6) | <0.001* | 1.015 | 5.7–9.0 |
| Step length asymmetry, % | 8.7 (8.1) | 8.3 (7.2) | 0.665 | 0.051 | −1.4 to 2.2 |
| Gait variability | |||||
| GaitSD, degrees | 2.5 (0.8) | 2.5 (0.9) | 0.970 | 0.005 | −0.3 to 0.2 |
| Step time CV, % | 3.2 (1.9) | 4.0 (2.3) | 0.007* | 0.365 | −1.3 to −0.2 |
| Step length CV, % | 3.6 (2.1) | 4.5 (3.1) | 0.002* | 0.432 | −1.8 to −0.4 |
Statistical tests used were the student t-tests for continuous outcomes presented as mean [standard deviation (SD)] and Pearson chi-2 test for dichotomous outcomes presented as n (%). Significant differences between groups were considered at p < 0.05 (*).
LL, leg length; CGA, clinical gait analysis; GDI, Gait deviation index; pROM, passive range of motion; GMFCS, gross motor function classification scale (Palisano et al., 2008); CV is coefficient of variation (SD/mean); BTX is botulinum toxin type A treatments; Spasticity composite score concerned the hip flexors, the knee flexors and extensors and the ankle plantar flexors; Weakness and selectivity composite score concerned the hip flexors and extensors, the knee flexors and extensors and the ankle plantar and dorsiflexors; pROM composite score concerned the hip extensors, the knee popliteal angle and the ankle dorsiflexors.