Reference values for anaerobic performance and agility in ambulatory children and adolescents with cerebral palsy.
OBJECTIVE
the aim of this study was to provide reference values of anaerobic performance and agility in a group of children and adolescents with spastic cerebral palsy (CP).


METHODS
a total of 300 children (184 males, 116 females) with spastic CP were recruited from 26 rehabilitation centres in six different countries. Of these, 215 were classified at GMFCS level I (mean age 11y 2mo, SD 3y, range 6-18y) and 85 were classified at GMFCS level II (mean age 11y; SD 3y 1mo, range 6-18y). The children performed the Muscle Power Sprint Test (MPST) and the 10×5m sprint test in a standardized manner. To establish reference values, reference curves were created using generalized additive models for location, scale, and shape.


RESULTS
height-related reference curves were created based on performance on the two tests.


CONCLUSIONS
this study provides height-related reference values for anaerobic performance and agility for children and adolescents with CP classified at GMFCS levels I and II. These curves are clinically relevant and provide a user-friendly method in the interpretation of anaerobic performance and agility for children with spastic CP.
Verschuren
Olaf
O
Rehabilitation Center De Hoogstraat, Center of Excellence for Rehabilitation Medicine Utrecht, Netherlands. o.verschuren@dehoogstraat.nl
Bloemen
Manon
M
Kruitwagen
Cas
C
Takken
Tim
T
D000293:Adolescent; D015308:Anaerobic Threshold; D002547:Cerebral Palsy / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D002648:Child; D015986:Confounding Factors, Epidemiologic; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009048:Motor Skills; D053580:Muscle Strength; D010809:Physical Fitness; D012016:Reference Values; D012107:Research Design; D012720:Severity of Illness Index