title: Aspects of birth history and outcome in diplegics attending specialised educational facilities.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  We aimed to study functional mobility and visual performance in spastic diplegic children and adolescents attending specialised schools.
  
  
  METHODS
  Spastic diplegia (SD) was confirmed by clinical examination. Birth and related history were added to explore relationships between SD, birth weight (BW) and duration of pregnancy. Place of birth, BW, gestational age (GA) and length of hospital stay were obtained by means of parental recall. Outcome measures included the functional mobility scale (FMS) and Beery tests of visuomotor integration (VMI) and visual perception (VIS).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Forty participants were included (age 7 years 5 months - 19 years 6 months). Term and preterm births were almost equally represented. Functional mobility assessments showed that 20 were walking independently in school and community settings and the remainder used walking aids or wheelchairs. There were no significant correlations between BW or GA and outcomes (FMS, VIS-Z scores or VMI-Z scores) and Z scores were low. VIS scores correlated significantly with chronological age (p=0.024). There were also significant correlations between VIS and VMI scores and school grade appropriateness (p=0.004;p=0.027 respectively).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Both term and preterm births were represented, and outcomes were similar regardless of GA. VIS and VMI were affected in both groups. Half of the group used assistive mobility devices and three-fifths were delayed in terms of their educational level. These problems require specialised teaching strategies, appropriate resources and a school environment that caters for mobility limitations.
authors.affiliation: University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. faithbischof@gmail.com
authors.forename: Faith
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Bischof
authors.forename: Alan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rothberg
authors.forename: Ingrid
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Ratcliffe
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001724:Birth Weight; D002547:Cerebral Palsy / Q000150:complications / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D002648:Child; D002658:Developmental Disabilities / Q000209:etiology / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D019988:Children with Disabilities / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D004519:Education, Special; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D051346:Mobility Limitation; D009048:Motor Skills; D009460:Neurologic Examination / Q000379:methods; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013019:South Africa; D013334:Students / Q000706:statistics & numerical data