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How brachial plexus birth palsy affects motor development and upper extremity skill quality?

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Abstract

Purpose

This study aimed to investigate the gross motor functions including head control, midline crossing, and rolling, and the relationship between these developmental skills and upper extremity skill quality in children with neonatal brachial plexus palsy (NBPP).

Methods

A total of 106 children with NBPP, aged 10–18 months, were included in this study. Injury severity was determined with the Narakas Classification. The gross motor function measurement lying and rolling sub-scale was used to evaluate gross motor functions including head control, midline crossing, and rolling, while the Quality of Upper Extremity Skills Test was applied to assess the upper extremity skill quality. The assessments were performed only once during routine physiotherapy controls.

Results

As the severity of injury increased, developmental skill capacity decreased and upper extremity skill quality deteriorated (ps = 0.0001). There was a strong positive correlation between these developmental skills and upper extremity skill quality (ps = 0.0001).

Conclusion

Developmental skills are affected by NBPP. Rehabilitation programs aimed at increasing the quality of upper extremity skills should be included in neurodevelopmental treatment approaches.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank all the children and their families who participated in this study on a voluntary basis.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Medicine, Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey

    Gülay Çelik

  2. Faculty of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation, Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey

    Tüzün Fırat

Authors
  1. Gülay Çelik
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  2. Tüzün Fırat
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Contributions

All authors contributed to all studies. TF and GÇ designed the study, and GÇ acquired the data by performing assessments. TF performed statistical analyses. TF and GÇ drafted the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Tüzün Fırat.

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Ethical approval

This study was approved by the Hacettepe University Non-Interventional Clinical Research Ethics Committee (license number: GO 17/923), and all procedures carried out in the study involving human participants were in accordance with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration.

Informed consent

Informed consent was obtained from all children’s parents.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Çelik, G., Fırat, T. How brachial plexus birth palsy affects motor development and upper extremity skill quality?. Childs Nerv Syst 37, 2865–2871 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00381-021-05249-x

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