title: Assessment of Abilities and Comorbidities in Children With Cerebral Palsy.
abstract: This study examines major comorbidities in children with severe cerebral palsy and the feasibility of psychological tests for measuring abilities in a more impaired population. Eighty psychological evaluations of children with cerebral palsy aged 1.8 to 15.4 years (mean = 5.6) were analyzed. Major comorbid disorders were correlated with severity of motor disability. More than half of the cohort were diagnosed with severe cerebral palsy according to the Gross Motor Function Classification System. Multiple subtests were combined in order to assess the intellectual level. Normal intelligence was found in 22.5%, and 41.3% had moderate or severe intellectual impairment. Epilepsy occurred in 32.5% and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in 22.5%. Intellectual disability correlated with motor ability and with epilepsy. In a logistic regression model, epilepsy and motor ability score predicted 29.9% of IQ score variance. Intellectual impairment and epilepsy are common comorbidities. Subtests from different scales should be applied and interpreted with caution.
authors: The Weinberg Developmental Center, Safra Children's Hospital, Tel Hashomer, Israel Sakler school of medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel lidiagabis@gmail.com.
authors: Lidia V
authors: LV
authors: Gabis
authors: The Weinberg Developmental Center, Safra Children's Hospital, Tel Hashomer, Israel.
authors: Netta Misgav
authors: NM
authors: Tsubary
authors: The Weinberg Developmental Center, Safra Children's Hospital, Tel Hashomer, Israel.
authors: Odelia
authors: O
authors: Leon
authors: The Weinberg Developmental Center, Safra Children's Hospital, Tel Hashomer, Israel.
authors: Arie
authors: A
authors: Ashkenasi
authors: The Weinberg Developmental Center, Safra Children's Hospital, Tel Hashomer, Israel.
authors: Shahar
authors: S
authors: Shefer
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001289:Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / Q000453:epidemiology; D002547:Cerebral Palsy / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D015897:Comorbidity; D004827:Epilepsy / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007223:Infant; D008607:Intellectual Disability / Q000453:epidemiology; D007360:Intelligence; D007557:Israel / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence; D011581:Psychological Tests; D012720:Severity of Illness Index
keywords: Gross Motor Function Classification System; cerebral palsy; comorbidities; epilepsy; intelligence