Anaerobic endurance and peak muscle power in children with spastic cerebral palsy
D. F. Parker, L. Carriere, H. Hebestreit and O. Bar-Or
Children's Exercise and Nutrition Centre, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario.
The aim of this study was to provide information on anaerobic muscle
endurance (mean power) and peak muscle power in children with spastic
cerebral palsy. We measured peak power and mean power of the upper and
lower limbs in 29 boys and 20 girls, aged from 6 to 14 years, by means of
the Wingate Anaerobic Test. In addition, the physical components (physical
capacity, upper limb, and lower limb) of a system used for evaluating
function in the physically disabled were assessed. Of the 49 subjects, 46
and 37 successfully completed the arm and leg Wingate Anaerobic Test,
respectively. Compared with norms for age and gender (healthy, nonathletic
children), peak and mean power in the patients, even when corrected for
body weight, were distinctly subnormal. The performance of subjects with
quadriplegia was 3 to 4 SDs below the mean for controls. Twenty-five of
diplegic and hemiplegic subjects had values below 2 SDs. When the data were
analyzed according to the severity of the cerebral palsy, with the use of
the physical capacity, upper limb, and lower limb score, those children
with moderate to severe cerebral palsy had values for mean and peak power
of the arm and leg 3 to 4 SDs below the normal mean. Values for children
with only mild cerebral palsy also fell below the mean, but the data were
more scattered, especially for the leg. The lower muscle performance may
reflect both quantitative and qualitative differences in the upper- and
lower-limb muscles, due to altered innervation and, in the more severely
affected children, disuse.
