Spatial attention disregard in children with hemiplegic cerebral palsy

Importance: Children with hemiplegic cerebral palsy (CP) demonstrate spatial attention disregard, but the rehabilitation approach to CP is traditionally motor oriented. Objective: To explore spatial attention disregard in children with hemiplegic CP and its relationship to their motor performance in daily activities. Design: Cross-sectional study. Setting: Community. Participants: Twenty-five children with hemiplegic CP and 25 age-matched typically developing children. Outcomes and Measures: For spatial attention performance, the Random Visual Stimuli Detection Task; for developmental disregard, the Observatory Test of Capacity, Performance, and Developmental Disregard; and for motor performance, the Melbourne Assessment 2. Results: Children with hemiplegic CP evidenced spatial attention disregard on their more affected sides, and this phenomenon was correlated with developmental disregard. Conclusions and Relevance: Children with hemiplegic CP demonstrate developmental disregard in both the motor and the visual-spatial attention domains. Including evaluation of and intervention for visual-spatial attention for children with hemiplegic CP in the traditionally motor-oriented rehabilitation approach is recommended. What This Article Adds: This research provides evidence that children with hemiplegic CP demonstrate disregard in the domain of visual-spatial attention. The findings suggest that evaluation of and intervention for visual-spatial attention should be included in CP rehabilitation in addition to the traditionally motor-oriented approach.