Effects of Vojta approach on diaphragm movement in children with spastic cerebral palsy

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of Vojta approach on the gross motor function and diaphragm movement in children with spastic cerebral palsy (CP). Ten children with spastic CP were randomly assigned to a general physiotherapy group (trunk strengthening exer-cise and gait training) (n=5) and a Vojta approach group (n=5). Inter-ventions were implemented for 30 min per time, 3 times a week for a to-tal of 6 weeks. Ultrasonography was used to measure the areas of the diaphragm (during inspiration, expiration) before and after the interven-tions, the gross motor function measure (GMFM)-88 was used for eval-uation of the gross motor function. In the results of this study, there was a significant difference between before and after GMFM-sitting in the experimental group (P < 0.05), a significant difference in changes of in-spiration between the two groups (P < 0.05). Given these results, Vojta approach may be presented as an effective treatment method for im-proving sitting position and diaphragm movement during inspiration in children with spastic CP.