Exercise training program in children and adolescents with cerebral palsy

Objective: To evaluate the effects of an 8- month training program with standardized exercises on aerobic and anaerobic capacity in children and adolescents with cerebral palsy. Design: Pragmatic randomized controlled clinical trial with blinded outcome evaluation between July 2005 and October 2006. Setting: Participants were recruited from 4 schools for special education in the Netherlands. Participants: A total of 86 children with cerebral palsy ( aged 7- 18 years) classified at Gross Motor Function Classification System level I or II. Intervention: Participants were randomly assigned to either the training group ( n= 32) or the control group ( n= 33). The training group met twice per week for 45 minutes to circuit train in a group format that focused on aerobic and anaerobic exercises. Main Outcome Measures: Aerobic capacity was assessed by the 10- m shuttle run test, and anaerobic capacity was assessed by the Muscle Power Sprint Test. Secondary outcome measures included agility, muscle strength, self- competence, gross motor function, participation level, and health- related quality of life. Results: A significant training effect was found for aerobic ( P <. 001) and anaerobic capacity ( P=. 004). A significant effect was also found for agility ( P <. 001), muscle strength ( P <. 001), and athletic competence ( P=. 005). The intensity of participation showed a similar effect for formal ( P <. 001), overall ( P=. 002), physical ( P=. 005), and skilled- based activities ( P <. 001). On the health-related quality of life measure, a significant improvement was found for the motor ( P=. 001), autonomy ( P=. 02), and cognition ( P=. 04) domains. Conclusions: An exercise training program improves physical fitness, participation level, and quality of life in children with cerebral palsy when added to standard care. Trial Registration: isrctn. org Identifier: ISRCTN77274716.