Management Patterns of Children With Cerebral Palsy by Physiotherapists Working in Selected Hospitals in Nigeria

Objectives Body composition describes the amount of fat mass (FM) in comparison with the amount of fat-free mass (FFM) in the body. This study was carried out to provide a better understanding of the correlation between gross motor function (GMF) and selected indices of body composition (weight, waist circumference (WC), waist-hip ratio (WHR), body mass index (BMI), skinfold thickness (SFT)) among children with cerebral palsy (CP), as this area has not received significant research attention in Nigeria. Material and Methods This was a correlational study involving 48 children with CP who were recruited from the physiotherapy outpatient clinics of Oni Memorials Children Hospital and University College Hospital using a purposive sampling technique. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyse the results at alpha ≤0.05. This study comprised 32 males and 16 females with a mean age of 37.69±27.36 months. Most (41.7%) of the children were on the GMF classification system (GMFCS) level V. The average weight of the children was 10.70±4.21 kg, and their BMI averaged at 12.88±2.83 kg/m2. WC and WHR were measured with an average of 43.13±6.75 cm and 0.98±0.25, respectively. Triceps SFT, SFT over the thighs, and SFT over the abdomen averaged 7.13±3.04 mm, 9.28±4.11 mm, and 6.17±3.10 mm, respectively. Results There was a significant and strong linear relationship between GMF and the weight of children with CP. Also, a significantly positive but weak linear relationship between the gross motor function measure (GMFM) and BMI, as well as with the WC of the children. Conversely, a negative relationship was found between the GMFM and WHR of the children with CP. Additionally, a weak but positive relationship was observed between GMFM and triceps SFT of children with CP, and also between their GMFM and abdominal SFT. Conclusion The outcome of this study revealed that weight, BMI, WC, triceps SFT, and abdominal SFT showed a positive significant relationship with GMFM, while WHR showed a negative significant relationship with GMFM in children with CP. Therefore, healthcare professionals should consider examining the relationship between body composition and motor skill development as part of rehabilitation programmes for children with CP, rather than prioritising body composition improvement as a central focus.