Spectrum of gross motor and cognitive functions in children with cerebral palsy: gender differences.

BACKGROUND

Multiple differences between males and females are reported both in physiological and pathophysiological conditions.

AIMS

To test the hypothesis that gender could influence the motor and cognitive development in children with cerebral palsy (CP).

METHODS

Prospective, cross-sectional. One hundred seventy one children with CP (98 males and 73 females) were evaluated for motor (Gross Motor Function Measure, Gross Motor Function Classification System) and cognitive (Bayley II, Wechsler Scales) functions. Eighty-four of them were assessed before and other eighty-seven children after 4 years of age.

RESULTS

No gender-related differences were observed in children with diplegia or quadriplegia, both for motor and cognitive functions. On the contrary, females with hemiplegia scored significantly better (P < 0.01) in cognitive functions and in the dimension D (standing) of the Gross Motor Function Measure, under the age of 4 years. These differences were not observed after this age.

CONCLUSIONS

In this study we point out that gender might influence differently the psycho-motor development of children with hemiplegia and of those with a more severe clinical involvement as diplegia and quadriplegia.