Abstrait

Effect of aquatic therapy on head control in cerebral palsy children

Ahmed Mohamed Ahmed Mostafa*, Emam Hassan El-Negmy, Gehan Mosaad Abd El-Maksoud, Mohamed AbdAl-Ghaffar AbdAl-Rahman, Amr Ahmed Othman Srour

Background: Head control is considered to be essential in the development of postural control to enable other skills to be developed. Objective: to investigate the effect of water-based exercises on head control and movement functional recovery in children with Cerebral Palsy (CP). Method: Twenty-nine children with CP, whose ages ranged from 2 to 6 years old, from both sexes. The children were randomly divided into two groups: Control group (A) fourteen children have received designed land-based exercises for the head control. Study group (B): Fifteen were received designed water-based exercises for the head control. Gross Motor Function Measure (GMFM) and Vestibular Evoking Myogenic Potential (VEMP) were assessed before and after three months of treatment. Results: The results of this study revealed non-significant improvement in dimensions A and B of GMFM, and significant improvement in P1 and N1 of cVEMP measures of right and left ear when comparing pre- and post-treatment values between both groups. Conclusion: It was concluded that water-based exercises may be useful to improve head control and movement functional recovery in children with CP.