Kinematic upper limb analysis outperforms electromyography at grading the severity of dystonia in children with cerebral palsy

Background

Severity of dyskinesia in children with cerebral palsy is often assessed using observation-based clinical tools. Instrumented methods to objectively measure dyskinesia have been proposed to improve assessment accuracy and reliability. Here, we investigated the technique and movement features that were most suitable to objectively measure the severity of dystonia in children with cerebral palsy.

Methods

A prospective observational study was conducted with 12 participants with cerebral palsy with a predominant motor type of dyskinesia, spasticity, or mixed dyskinesia/spasticity who had upper limb involvement (mean age: 12.6 years, range: 6.7–18.2 years). Kinematic and electromyography data were collected bilaterally during three upper limb tasks. Spearman rank correlations of kinematic or electromyography features were calculated against dystonia severity, quantified by the Dyskinesia Impairment Scale.

Findings

Kinematic features were more influential compared to electromyography features at grading the severity of dystonia in children with cerebral palsy. Kinematic measures quantifying jerkiness of volitional movement during an upper limb task with a reaching component performed best (|r_s| = 0.78–0.9, p < 0.001).

Interpretation

This study provides guidance on the types of data, features of movement, and activity protocols that instrumented methods should focus on when objectively measuring the severity of dystonia in children with cerebral palsy.