Ann Rehabil Med.  2017 Feb;41(1):90-96. 10.5535/arm.2017.41.1.90.

Efficacy of Intensive Neurodevelopmental Treatment for Children With Developmental Delay, With or Without Cerebral Palsy

• Lee KH
• Park JW
• Lee HJ
• Nam KY
• Park TJ
• Kim HJ
• Kwon BS

• KMID: 2383682
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.5535/arm.2017.41.1.90

Abstract

OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the effectiveness of intensive neurodevelopmental treatment (NDT) on gross motor function for the children having developmental delay (DD), with or without cerebral palsy (CP).
METHODS
Forty-two children had intensive NDT three times weekly, 60 minutes a day, for 3 months, immediately followed by conventional NDT once or twice a week, 30 minutes a day, for another 3 months. We assessed Gross Motor Function Measure (GMFM) over three time points: before conventional NDT, before and after intensive NDT, and after 3 months of additional conventional NDT.
RESULTS
The GMFM score in DD children significantly improved after intensive NDT, and the improvement maintained after 3 months of conventional NDT (p<0.05). The children were further divided into two groups: DD with CP and DD without CP. Both groups showed significant improvement and maintained the improvements, after intensive NDT (p<0.05). Also, there was no significant difference in treatment efficacy between the two groups. When we calculate the absence rate for comparing the compliance between intensive and conventional NDT, the absence rate was lower during the intensive NDT.
CONCLUSION
Intensive NDT showed significantly improved gross motor function and higher compliance than conventional NDT. Additionally, all improvements were maintained through subsequent short-term conventional NDT. Thus, we recommend the intensive NDT program by day-hospital centers for children with DD, irrespective of accompanying CP.

Keyword

Cerebral palsy; Developmental disabilities; Disability evaluation; Rehabilitation

MeSH Terms

Cerebral Palsy*
Child*
Compliance
Developmental Disabilities
Disability Evaluation
Humans
Rehabilitation
Treatment Outcome

Figure

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  Fig. 1 Research design and flow. DD, developmental delay; CP, cerebral palsy; GMFM, Gross Motor Function Measure; C-NDT, conventional neurodevelopmental treatment; I-NDT, intensive neurodevelopmental treatment.

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  Fig. 2 Comparison of GMFM scores over the four periods. CP, cerebral palsy; DD, developmental delay; GMFM, Gross Motor Function Measure; C-NDT, conventional neurodevelopmental treatment; I-NDT, intensive neurodevelopmental treatment.

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