The relationships between kinematic characteristics of sitting posture during reaching movements of the dominant arm and 1)the kinematics of the reaching move ment itself and 2) functional performance during daily life activities (PEDI) we re assessed in 51 sitting preterm children with cerebral palsy (CP). The childre n were 2-11 y, 33 had spastic hemiplegia (SH) and 18 bilateral CP (Bi-CP). The data were compared with those of 26 typically developing children (TD). Sitting posture before the onset of reaching of children with CP differed from that of TD children: they sat with a more reclined pelvis and a more collapsed trunk. Th e more reclined pelvic position was associated with a better quality of reaching movements. The different sitting postures of pelvis and trunk were not related to functional performance during daily life activities. Displacement of the head , trunk, and pelvis of the children with CP did not differ from that of the TD c hildren. Nevertheless, in the children with CP a more stable head, a more mobile trunk, and a more stable pelvis were related to better functional performance a nd/or a better quality of reaching. This suggests that physiotherapeutic guidanc e of children with CP should focus rather on the latter postural parameters than on the different sitting posture of pelvis and trunk.
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