Current Trends in Pediatric Physical Therapy Practice for Children With Down Syndrome

Background: Physical therapists (PTs) have a broad range of approaches to the management of Down syndrome (DS). Purpose: To examine the breadth of physical therapy practice for children with DS. Methods: A survey was distributed to 1000 randomly selected members of the Academy of Pediatric Physical Therapy. Data Analysis: Responses were categorized into 13 thematic subcategories and 3 International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) subcategories. Results and Discussion: One hundred eight PTs participated. Joint stability and alignment were the most common physical therapy-related problem. Functional movement was the most common physical therapy intervention. Most clinicians identified and treated at the ICF level of body functions and structure. Multiple assessment tools were used and tended to include norm-referenced tests. There was diversity of interventions with varying amounts of supporting evidence. Conclusions: PTs manage children with DS for a wide variety of needs with a variety of interventions.