Functional priorities reported by parents of children with cerebral palsy: contribution to the pediatric rehabilitation process

BACKGROUND: Collaborative actions between family and therapist are essential to the rehabilitation process, and they can be a catalyst mechanism to the positive outcomes in children with cerebral palsy (CP). OBJECTIVES: To describe functional priorities established by caregivers of CP children by level of severity and age, and to assess changes on performance and satisfaction on functional priorities reported by caregivers, in 6-month interval. METHOD: 75 CP children, weekly assisted at Associação Mineira de Reabilitação, on physical and occupational therapy services. The following information was collected: gross motor function (Gross Motor Function Classification System-GMFCS) and functional priorities established by caregivers (Canadian Occupational Performance Measure-COPM). Data were collected in two moments, with a 6-month interval. RESULTS: The main functional demands presented by caregivers were related to self-care activities (48.2%). Parents of children with severe motor impairment (GMFCS V) pointed higher number of demands related to play (p=0.0036), compared to the other severity levels. Parents of younger children reported higher number of demands in mobility (p=0.025) and play (p=0.007), compared to other age groups. After 6 months, there were significant increase on COPM performance (p=0.0001) and satisfaction scores (p=0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: Parents of CP children identified functional priorities in similar performance domains, by level of severity and age. Orienting the pediatric rehabilitation process to promote changes in functional priorities indentified by caregivers can contribute to the reinforcement of the parent-therapist collaboration.