Motor function and life quality of individuals with cerebral palsy

Objective: The objective of this study was to evaluate and correlate the gross motor function and the quality of life of children with cerebral palsy. Methods: Clinical and anatomical type, the gross motor function through the Gross Motor Function Measure and the quality of life were verified in 20 subjects through questionnaire for quality of Pediatric Life. The Shapiro– Wilk’s test and the Kruskal–Wallis were used for the analyses. To correlate, we used the Canonical Correlation Analysis, the Likelihood Ratio test and Wilk’s Lambda Multivariate Statistics, with significance level of 5%. Results: The average age of the subjects was 8.4±4.03 years. Individuals with spastic hemiparesis showed significantly greater motor function than those classified as athetoid quadriplegia and spastic. The existence of highly significant canonical correlation was found between the variables relating to the Gross Motor Function Measure and quality of Pediatric Life. Conclusion: The findings show that the greater the impairment of gross motor function the lower the qualify of life.