Effectiveness of Bilateral and Unilateral Sensorimotor Exercises on Motor Performance of Students with Spastic Cerebral Palsy

Hand function is vital for daily life activities in patients with hemiplegic cerebral palsy. This study compared the impact of bilateral and unilateral sensorimotor exercises on the motor performance of students with spastic cerebral palsy.

In this randomized clinical trial study, the studied population included all students with hemiplegic cerebral palsy. Thirty students aged 7-11 years were enrolled in the study as available samples and randomly divided equally into two 15 experimental and 15 control group individuals. The exercise program included bilateral sensory and motor exercises that were performed over eight weeks, 75 minutes per session, and thrice a week. SPSS software, independent t-test, and paired tests at a significance level of 0.05 were used for statistical data analysis.

As indicated by the results, the upper limbs’ motor function had significant improvement after bilateral sensory-motor exercises (p = 0.00). The experimental group’s mean change was from 14.00± 4.01 to 18.26± 3.32 and in the control group was from 13.00 ± 3.01 to 13.73±  2.96 respectively.

Conclusion: Combined bilateral sensory-motor exercises can significantly improve hand function in children with hemiplegic cerebral palsy.