PARENT COMPLIANCE WITH THERAPEUTIC INTERVENTIONS FOR CHILDREN WITH CEREBRAL PALSY

This paper reports the correspondence between different measures of parental compliance and the relationship of these compliance measures to change in hand function after therapy intervention. 72 children with cerebral palsy, aged 18 months to eight years, participated in a clinical trial of neurodevelopmental therapy (NDT) and upper-limb casting; home programmes were part of each intervention. Measures of parental compliance comprised: self-rating of understanding and skill using a questionnaire, therapist's rating of parental compliance, attendances, mean time of cast wear and number of days completed home-programme log-book. Parent ratings were the only significant predictor of change in hand function. Parent self-rating was the most useful measure, since it correlated moderately with two other compliance measures and was predictive of change in hand function.