Thesis (M.Sc.) - Cairo University - Faculty of Physical Therapy - Department of Growth and Development Disarders in Pediatrics

Background: Gait improvement is one of the most important goals of physical therapy program in cases of cerebral palsy (CP) because as much as 90% of those children have difficulty in walking. Purpose: this study was conducted to investigate the effect of aerobic gait training on pulmonary functions and functional capacity in children with CP. Subjects and Methods: Thirty children diagnosed with hemiparetic CP participated in this study. They were selected from outpatient clinic of Faculty of Physical Therapy, Cairo University and Abo El {u2013} Reesh pediatrics hospital with age range between 5 and 9 years. The selected sample was divided into two groups of equal number. Control group (Group A) that was treated by traditional gait training while study group (Group B) received aerobic gait training. All participants were evaluated by Six minute walk test for detecting the functional capacity and impulse oscillometry device that was used for detecting pulmonary functions (R5) before and after three successive months of treatment application. Results: There was a statistically significant improvement of all measured variables in each group after treatment and also between both groups after treatment in favor to the study group (p<0.05). Conclusion: It was concluded that the aerobic gait training improve the functional capacity and pulmonary functions in children with hemiplegic CP

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