Describing healthcare concerns of adolescents and adults with cerebral palsy

Aim

To identify healthcare concerns of adolescents and adults with cerebral palsy (CP) followed in a multidisciplinary rehabilitation program and identify patient factors associated with the number of concerns raised.

Method

A retrospective chart review of initial consultations of 241 people with CP (53 % male) aged 14 years or older (mean 27 y 5mo, SD 13 y 2mo), over a three-year period. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize data and explore associations. Poisson’s regression was used to predict healthcare concerns from patient demographic factors.

Results

A total of 2237 distinct concerns were raised by the participants, with a median of 9 (range 1–34) concerns per person. Ten healthcare concern categories were reported by more than 25 % of the sample. Only age was associated with the number of healthcare concerns (r = 0.25, p < 0.001). Age and GMFCS significantly predicted total number of healthcare concerns.

Interpretation

Adolescents and adults with CP reported a high number of healthcare concerns at the initial visit to the Transitional and Lifelong Care program and the number of concerns may increase with advancing age. The concerns identified span a variety of biopsychosocial spheres and supports the need for ongoing specialty and multidisciplinary care of this population through their adult years.