Abstract
The pilot study examines the influence of the Acral Coactivation Therapy on postural stability of children suffering from cerebral palsy. The children with cerebral palsy have a deficit in postural control, which is a prerequisite for performing common daily life activities.
The neurophysiology method Acral Coactivation Therapy is based on a motor learning fixation having its origin in motor development positions and its variants. The motor patterns in the Acral Coactivation Therapies are practiced within common everyday activities in patients' real conditions.
The aim is to evaluate effect of the Acral Coactivation Therapy on stability of children suffering from cerebral palsy and compare the differences in the resulting values among the trial group A with the intervention methods and the control group B in the parameters center of pressure of reaction force, path circumscribing the path of the center of pressure, load distribution in anterioposterior direction and in the mediolateral direction. A sample of 24 (19 girls and 5 boys) was engaged with the aim to measure stability of the children, of whom 12 (their average age was 10.254.6) underwent the Acral coactivation therapy besides the standard spa treatment. 12 patients (their average age was 8.173.9) of the control group underwent the standard spa treatments.
After finishing the three weeks of therapy of the neuromuscular Acral Coactivation Therapy and comparing the input and output results it appeared that the variability of the output values of the monitored group of children had decreased in comparison with the control group in the parameters center of pressure of the reaction force, path circumscribing the path of the center of pressure and the load distribution in anterioposterior direction. However, any significant changes did not show.
The biggest differences between the groups, which evaluated using material significance (Cohen's d), where found in the average load distribution parameters in the anterioposterior and mediolateral direction.