ASSESSMENT OF SENSORY PROCESSING CHARACTERISTICS IN CEREBRAL PALSY CHILDREN

AIMS & OBJECTIVES Children with cerebral palsy present with the complain of motor and sensory deficits. The movement and posture difficulties are well addressed by the rehabilitation team; however, sensory deficits remain unaddressed. Therefore, this study aims to assess the sensory processing characteristics in Spastic Diplegic children using Short Sensory Profile. METHODOLOGY This cross-sectional study was conducted at special education institutes/schools of Karachi. The Cerebral Palsy children with Spastic Diplegia aged 4-15 years were enrolled through Non-Probability Convenience Sampling Technique. Data was collected from parents/guardians of the participants using Short Sensory Profile questionnaire. RESULTS A sample of 70 participants was obtained out of 133 with a highest reported mean score of 17.38 in Tactile Sensitivity, while lowest in Taste/Smell and Movement Sensitivity i.e. 8.77 and 6.12 respectively. Moreover, a significant weak correlation was determined between Tactile and Movement Sensitivity (p<0.05). CONCLUSION It was found that all CP children enrolled in the study were showing Atypical sensory performance on Short Sensory Profile. Further investigation is required to establish psychometric properties of Short Sensory Profile on CP population and understand the correlation of sensory modulation impairments with functional performance for better intervention outcome for CP children.