Participation of children and young people with cerebral palsy in activities of daily living in rural Uganda

AIM: To compare the participation attendance and involvement of children and young people with and without cerebral palsy (CP) in a low‐resource area of Uganda. METHOD: Eighty‐two children and young people with CP aged 6 to 22 years (49 males, 33 females) and 81 age‐ and sex‐matched peers without CP (6 to 22 years; 48 males, 33 females) participated in this population‐based, cross‐sectional study. Data on attendance and involvement in 20 home and community activities were obtained using Picture My Participation, an instrument intended to measure participation in children with disabilities, particularly in low‐ and middle‐income countries. Non‐parametric statistical methods were used to assess between‐group differences. Effect size estimates were calculated. RESULTS: Pooled attendance across all activities was lower in children and young people with CP than in children and young people without CP (p < 0.001) and for each activity item (p = 0.004 to p < 0.001). The effect sizes for each activity were 0.2 to 0.7. Between‐group differences were larger for community activities than for home activities. Pooled involvement across all activities was less in the group with CP (p < 0.001) and for each activity (p = 0.014 to p < 0.001). The effect sizes for each activity were 0.2 to 0.5. Children and young people in Gross Motor Function Classification System (GMFCS) levels I and II had higher attendance (p < 0.001) and involvement (p = 0.023) than those in GMFCS levels III to V. INTERPRETATION: Participation of young people living with CP in Uganda was restricted, especially for community activities. There is a need to identify context‐specific participation barriers and develop strategies to overcome them. WHAT THIS PAPER ADDS: Children and young people with cerebral palsy (CP) attended all activities less than their peers without CP. Differences in attendance were larger for community‐based activities than home activities. When attending activities, children and young people with CP were less involved than their peers. Children and young people with milder impairments attended less frequently than their peers without CP. Children and young people with milder impairments attended more frequently than their peers with severe impairments.