Impact of mirror movements on the bimanual hand function and functional independence with comparison of the bimanual hand function in children suffering from spastic cerebral palsy, with and without mirror movements

To compare the bimanual hand function in children with and without mirror movements and to find the correlation between the bimanual hand function, functional independence and severity of mirror movements. Comparative cross sectional study. The study was conducted in special education schools of Lahore and Islamabad, Pakistan, from August 2017 to January 2018. Children suffering from spastic cerebral palsy including both males and females in age groups ranging from 5 to 18 years who were able to make a gross grip were included in the study. Children having low tone, not able to make a gross grip and with any deformity that makes the assessment difficult were excluded. The non probability sampling technique was used. The Woods and Teuber criteria were used to check the severity of the mirror movements and bimanual activities to compare the hand functions. Data was analyzed using SPSS 21. The mean age of the participants was 11.17±3.69 years. Children who presented with mirror movements had a mean age of 12±3.70 years and those without mirror movements had mean age of 10.72±3.63 years. According to the results of the bimanual task scale, there was no difference in the bimanual hand function of children with mirror movements and without mirror movements (P value >0.05) According to the results of the bimanual task scale there is no significant difference in the bimanual hand function of children suffering from spastic cerebral palsy, either with with or without mirror movements. However, functional independence was found more in the children suffering from cerebral palsy who presented without mirror movements.