Efficacy of aquatic exercise on pulmonary function and aquatic skills performance in older children with cerebral palsy. Randomised controlled study

Abstract

Introduction. To evaluate the effectiveness of aquatic aerobic exercise training (AqET) on the pulmonary function (PF) and aquatic skills performance in older children with spastic cerebral palsy (CP). A randomised controlled study. Methods. Twenty-eight children, 13–15 years old, with spastic CP were randomly allocated into an AqET group (n = 13; received AqET plus a traditional physiotherapy ‘TPT’ program) and a control group (n = 15; received TPT only). The PF [including (forced vital capacity; FVC), (forced expiratory volume in one second; FEV1)] and the aquatic skills performance (including the WOTA mental adaptation score ‘WMA’, the WOTA skills balance control movement score ‘WSBM’, the WOTA total score ‘WTOT’) were evaluated at the beginning and after 12 weeks. Results. Post-study results revealed significant increases in the PF, WMA, WSBM, WTOT mean values in both groups. The FEV1% and FVC% mean values and percentages of changes were [84.00% (21.5%), 78.23% (24.56%)] and [(71.13% (6.9%), 62% (7.12%)] for the AqET and control groups, respectively. The WMA, WSBM, WTOT mean scores and percentages of changes were [33.15 (77.01%), 15.46 (643.27%), 48.62, (133.19%)] and [20.2 (7.59%), 2.27 (23.89%), 22.47 (7.36%)] for the AqET and control groups, respectively (p < 0.05). There were significant differences between groups in the PF and the aquatic skills performance post-study, in favour of the AqET group. Conclusions. Children with spastic CP benefit favourably from AqET or TPT programs. The AqET is more beneficial than the TPT in increasing the PF and aquatic skills performance in older children with spastic CP.