American Occupational Therapy Association, American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 2(68), p. 159-166, 2014
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Abstract OBJECTIVE. Our objective was to identify predictors for treatment outcomes after home-based constraint-induced therapy (CIT) in children with cerebral palsy (CP). METHOD. Forty-three children (aged 4–12 yr) with CP were treated with individualized CIT at home for 4 wk. Potential predictors were age, sex, affected hand, and upper-extremity motor capacity measured by the Peabody Developmental Motor Scale, 2nd edition (PDMS–2). Outcomes were the Pediatric Motor Activity Log (PMAL) Amount of Hand Use and Quality of Hand Use subscales and the Functional Independence Measure for Children (WeeFIM). RESULTS. A higher PDMS–2 Visual–Motor Integration subscale score predicted a better WeeFIM score after home-based CIT (adjusted R2 = .35). Younger age predicted better performance on the PMAL Amount of Hand Use and Quality of Hand Use subscales (adjusted R2 = .06–.08) after home-based CIT. CONCLUSION. The potential predictors may allow occupational therapy practitioners to target those children who will benefit most after home-based constraint-induced therapy.