title: Early childhood constraint therapy for sensory/motor impairment in cerebral palsy: a randomised clinical trial protocol.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Cerebral palsy (CP) is the most common physical disability in childhood. It is a disorder resulting from sensory and motor impairments due to perinatal brain injury, with lifetime consequences that range from poor adaptive and social function to communication and emotional disturbances. Infants with CP have a fundamental disadvantage in recovering motor function: they do not receive accurate sensory feedback from their movements, leading to developmental disregard. Constraint-induced movement therapy (CIMT) is one of the few effective neurorehabilitative strategies shown to improve upper extremity motor function in adults and older children with CP, potentially overcoming developmental disregard.
  
  
  METHODS
  This study is a randomised controlled trial of children 12-24 months corrected age studying the effectiveness of CIMT combined with motor and sensory-motor interventions. The study population will comprise 72 children with CP and 144 typically developing children for a total of N=216 children. All children with CP, regardless of group allocation will continue with their standard of care occupational and physical therapy throughout the study. The research material collected will be in the form of data from high-density array event-related potential scan, standardised assessment scores and motion analysis scores.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  The study protocol was approved by the Institutional Review Board. The findings of the trial will be disseminated through peer-reviewed journals and scientific conferences.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  NCT02567630.
authors.affiliation: The Perinatal Research Institute at Nationwide Children's Hospital, Columbus, Ohio, USA.
authors.forename: Olena
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Chorna
authors.affiliation: Department of Allied Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, USA.
authors.forename: Jill
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Heathcock
authors.affiliation: Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee, USA.
authors.forename: Alexandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Key
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Nationwide Children's Hospital, Columbus, Ohio, USA.
authors.forename: Garey
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Noritz
authors.affiliation: The Perinatal Research Institute at Nationwide Children's Hospital, Columbus, Ohio, USA.
authors.forename: Helen
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Carey
authors.affiliation: The Perinatal Research Institute at Nationwide Children's Hospital, Columbus, Ohio, USA.
authors.forename: Ellyn
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Hamm
authors.affiliation: The Perinatal Research Institute at Nationwide Children's Hospital, Columbus, Ohio, USA.
authors.forename: Mary Ann
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Nelin
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Neurosciences and Department of Radiology, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois, Lausanne, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Micah
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Murray
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, USA.
authors.forename: Amy
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Needham
authors.affiliation: Department of Biostatistics, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee, USA.
authors.forename: James C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Slaughter
authors.affiliation: The Perinatal Research Institute at Nationwide Children's Hospital, Columbus, Ohio, USA Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee, USA Department of Pediatrics, Nationwide Children's Hospital, Columbus, Ohio, USA.
authors.forename: Nathalie L
authors.initials: NL
authors.lastname: Maitre
mesh_terms: D002547:Cerebral Palsy / Q000628:therapy*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002985:Clinical Protocols; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D000066530:Neurological Rehabilitation / Q000379:methods*; D026741:Physical Therapy Modalities; D016037:Single-Blind Method; D016896:Treatment Outcome