Effects of Aquatic Exercise Therapy Program on Motor Function, Balance and Activity of Daily Living in Children with Spastic Cerebral Palsy

This study is aimed to determine the effects of aquatic exercise program on motor function, balance and activity of daily living in children with spastic cerebral palsy (CP). The groups of this study were the aquatic exercise therapy group(AT, n=10) and the physical therapy group(PT, n=10). The subject of this study are children with spastic cerebral palsy; 2 groups, who agreed with this research, where picked up. Subjects received aquatic exercise training for 8 week, which consists of 2 times per weeks, 30 min of working pattern for each session. We measured Gross motor function masured (GMFM) and Korean Pediatric Balance Scale (K-PBS). Functional in dependency was assessed using Functional Independence Measure for Children ( WeeFIM). Main results of the present study were as follows: GMFM were significantly increased in AT group more than PT group. K-PBS and WeeFIM were significantly increased in AT group more than PT group.BR Therefore, the aquatic exercise therapy is effective in improvement of t improve the gross motor function, balance function and activity daily living in children with cerebral palsy.