Despite lack of scientific evidence, hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBO2) has been used as a treatment for children with cerebral palsy (CP). Recently, a multi-centre randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial assessed the efficacy of HBO2 therapy for children with CP. Using the same cohort, the purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of HBO2 therapy on hand function using the Jebsen-Taylor test. All children received 40 treatments over a 2-month period. HBO2 treatments were 60 minutes with 100% O2 at 1.75 atmospheres absolute (ATA). Placebo treatments were also 60 minutes with air (21% O2) at 1.3 ATA. Seventy-eight children with CP, aged 3--12 years completed pre and post hand function assessments. Hand function was evaluated using one quantitative measure (time) and three qualitative measures. There were no significant changes between baseline and follow-up tests for any of the measures, although both experimental and control groups improved ( p = 0.08) their total times for the Jebsen test. The HBO2 group improved by 54.5 seconds (8.8%) while the placebo group improved by 47.8 seconds (7.7%). The results indicate that HBO2 therapy did not enhance the hand function of children with CP.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.31117 |
| Date | January 2001 |
| Creators | Liebich, Ingrid. |
| Contributors | Montgomery, David (advisor) |
| Publisher | McGill University |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Coverage | Master of Arts (Department of Physical Education.) |
| Rights | All items in eScholarship@McGill are protected by copyright with all rights reserved unless otherwise indicated. |
| Relation | alephsysno: 001808083, proquestno: MQ70296, Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest. |
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