MANuAL ABILITy ANd ITS ReLATIoNSHIP wITH dAILy ACTIvITIeS IN AdoLeSCeNTS wITH CeReBRAL PALSy

J Rehabil Med 42 © 2010 The Authors. doi: 10.2340/16501977-0543 Journal Compilation © 2010 Foundation of Rehabilitation Information. ISSN 1650-1977 Objective: To describe the manual ability of adolescents with cerebral palsy and to investigate the relationship of manual ability with daily activities. Design: Cross-sectional study. Subjects: Ninety-four adolescents with cerebral palsy, aged 12–16 years. Methods: Manual ability was assessed according to the Manual Ability Classification System (MACS) and the ABILHAND-Kids. Daily activities were assessed with the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales (VABS) sub-scales for (personal and domestic) daily living skills. The relationship between manual ability and daily activities was investigated with regression analysis: independent variables were manual ability, disease and personal characteristics. Results: MACS and ABILHAND-Kids were both strongly associated with personal daily activities (explained variance 77% and 84%, respectively) and less strongly with domestic daily activities (explained variance 45% and 62%, respectively). Including other disease characteristics and personal characteristics in the model increased the explained variance of personal daily activities to 91% for both models and the explained variance of domestic daily activities to 68% and 73% for the MACS and ABILHAND-Kids models, respectively. Conclusion: Manual ability is limited in many adolescents with cerebral palsy, and limitations in manual ability are strongly related to limitations in daily activities.