Balance training using specially developed serious games for cerebral palsy children, a feasibility study

Abstract

Cerebral Palsy (CP) leads to various clinical signs mainly induced by spasticity. Among these ones impaired balance and posture are very common. Traditional physical therapy exercise programs are focusing on this aspect but it is difficult to motivate patients to regularly perform these exercises. Specially developed serious games (SG) could therefore be an interesting option to motivate children to perform specific exercise for balance improvement. This paper presents a feasibility study including 10 CP children. Patients received 4 sessions of SG included into conventional therapy. Trunk control and balance were assessed using Trunk Control Motor Scale (TCMS) before and after intervention. Children presented a significant improvement in TCMS after interventions (37,6 (8.7) and 39.6 (9.5) before and after intervention respectively, p=0.04). SG could therefore be an interesting option to integrate in the conventional treatment of CP children.