Author: Bjorg Gudjonsdottir, PT, MS and Vicki Stemmons Mercer, PT, PhD
Source: Pediatric Physical Therapy 2002; 14:38-46
This articles reports the effects of a standing program on bone mineral density, a measure of the thickness and strength of the bones, and behavior in four preschool children with severe cerebral palsy. The children used a prone stander for 30 minutes each day, five days a week. They stood on either a regular stander (two children) or a newly designed motorized stander that alternated weight bearing between the two legs (two children). Three of the children showed improvements in bone mineral density (BMD) after eight weeks.
In addition, all four children stood 20 minutes in the static stander and 20 minutes in the dynamic stander on three different days during the study period in order to compare the behavior of the children when standing in the static stander and when standing in the dynamic stander. The investigators used the Carolina Record of Individual Behavior (CRIB) to score the children on level of activity or alertness, reactivity, goal directedness and attention span. There did not appear to be any differences in the score for the CRIB while the children were standing on either stander.
The authors concluded that the results regarding changes in BMD were promising and supported the need for further research. Measurements of behavior did not suggest that one type of stander was better than the other for improving any of the variables measured by the CRIB.
|
