Risk factors of cerebral palsy during the perinatal period

Abstract

Cerebral palsy (CP) is an umbrella term encompassing a group of non-progressive motor impairment syndromes caused by lesions of the brain in early development. This study was to investigate the risk factors of CP. A total of 632 children with CP were retrospectively investigated in the present study. In addition, 931 children without CP aged <1~14 years (4.31±2.3 years) were recruited as controls. Risk factors investigated including preterm birth, multiple pregnancy, infection during pregnancy, neonatal convulsion, etc. Logistic regression model was used to analyze these risk factors of CP. The main risk factors increasing the prevalence of CP included neonatal convulsion (80.34, 34.75 to 182.64), low Apgar score (19.98, 10.85 to 34.96), low birth weight (5.83, 3.47 to 9.77), Infection during pregnancy (6.24, 5.01 to 12.25) and maternal age of ≥35 years (4.69, 2.54 to 5.59). Our findings confirm that neonatal convulsion, low Apgar score, low birth weight, infection during pregnancy and advanced reproductive age are the risk factors that can increase the prevalence of CP. ©2011 Academic Journals.