Gross motor function
A high quality RCT (Footer et al, 2006) investigated whether therapeutic taping can be used to address dysfunctional sitting control in children with cerebral palsy, quadriplegia type. No significant differences were found for the GMFM-88 scores between groups over time (p>0.05) indicating that therapeutic taping does not evoke a positive functional change in the seated postural control of children with quadriplegic cerebral palsy although clinically meaningful improvements were observed.
A fair-quality RCT (Simsek et al, 2011) investigated the effects of Kinesio taping and physical therapy application on sitting posture, gross motor function and the level of functional independence in children with moderate to severe cerebral palsy (GMFCS III-V) as compared to physical therapy alone. Both groups showed a significant difference in parameters of GMFM sitting subscale, GMFM total score and Sitting Assessment Scale (SAS) scores (p<0.05). At the end of 12 weeks, only SAS scores were significantly different in favour of the study group when the groups were compared (p<0.05).
Conclusion: There is moderate evidence (level 1b) from one high quality RCT that therapeutic taping does not have a positive effect on gross motor skills in children with severe cerebral palsy.
Self-care
A fair-quality RCT (Simsek et al, 2011) investigated the effects of Kinesio taping and therapy application on sitting posture, gross motor function and the level of functional independence in children with moderate to severe cerebral palsy (GMFCS III-V) as compared to therapy alone. Post-intervention WeeFIM scores of the study group were significantly higher compared to initial assessment (p<0.05), however, no difference was detected compared to the control group (p>0.05).
A pre-post study (Vekerdy et al, 2007) investigated the effects of a thoracic-lumbar-sacral orthosis with non-rigid SIDO frame in non-ambulant children with cerebral palsy. The study demonstrated positive effects on feeding.
A multiple baseline, single-subject study (Berge et al, 2011) examined the effects of a neoprene thumb opponens splint on hand function during a self-selected ADL task in children with unilateral spastic cerebral palsy. In four children goal attainment scaling and/or visual analogue scale scores increased after introducing the splint. These effects remained when splints were not worn. Two children only benefited from the splint when it was worn.
Conclusion: Limited (level 2b) evidence from a single fair-quality RCT demonstrating that upper limb bracing does not positively affect self-care skills.
Upper extremity function
A pre-post cohort study studied the immediate effect of wearing a wrist and thumb brace on the performance of bimanual activities in children with spastic hemiplegic cerebral palsy. It was found that bracing of the wrist and thumb immediately improved spontaneous use of the affected upper limb in bimanual activities.
Conclusion: There is limited evidence (level 2b) from one pre-post study regarding the positive effects of upper extremity bracing on upper extremity function in children with cerebral palsy.
