Relationship Between Spasticity and Health Related Quality of Life in Individuals with Cerebral Palsy

Abstract

Background: There is growing awareness of health related quality of life in cerebral palsy patients, though there is paucity of data in determining its relationship with spasticity in cerebral palsy patients.
Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between spasticity and health related quality of life in cerebral palsy patients.
Method: A cross-sectional survey design was employed in this study. A total of fifty individuals with cerebral palsy, males (54%) and females (46%) within the age range of 5 years and 18 years (9.06+ 3.38 years) participated in the study. Measurement of spasticity was done by the researcher using the Modified Ashworth Scale (MAS) and the parents or primary caregivers of the participants were required to complete the Caregiver Priorities and Child Health Index of Life with Disabilities (CPCHILD) questionnaire, which is a 37-item questionnaire that collects information on the health related quality of life. Data was analysed separately for each of the six domains of the questionnaire using the Pearson Product-Moment Correlation coefficient on SPSS version 17 and the level of significance was set at p= 0.05.
Results: According to the results, the domains of comfort and emotions with communication and social interaction do not have an influence on spasticity. The results also revealed that there was a significant relationship between spasticity and health related quality of life in cerebral palsy patients (p = 0.01).
Conclusion: Personal care and mobility which are aspects of the health related quality of life should be paid more attention to, as they are negatively affected by spasticity in patients with cerebral palsy.

Key words: Cerebral palsy, Spasticity. Health related quality of life.