Effect on Quality of Life in Children and Adolescents with Disabilities after a Functional Intensive Therapy Approach

Abstract

The aim of this study was to determine whether a functional intensive therapy approach can successfully improve the quality of life and ability to perform self-care in children and adolescents with disabilities. Thirty-one children (mean age: 14.13 years, standard deviation: 2.306 years) with disabilities including, but not limited to cerebral palsy, spina bifida, and muscular dystrophy, participated in intensive therapy, which was planned to last fifteen consecutive days. All participants received therapy six hours every day and also participated in home activities and physical and recreational group activities. The primary outcomes included proxy and self-report measurements using KIDSCREEN-52, and the secondary outcomes were determined using the Canadian Occupational Performance Measure (COPM). All assessments were completed by participants and their caregivers both before the intervention and again three months after its completion. Before the intensive therapy, all thirty-one caregivers completed the assessment. After three months, the KIDSCREEN domains of physical well-being (proxy and self-reports; p= 0.01) and school environment (self-report; p= 0.006) had increased significantly, and COPM domains showed a statistically significant increase for all participants (p= 0.000). Based on the results from the KIDSCREEN and COPM assessments, all participants demonstrated improvements after three months. Therefore, the intensive therapy approach may be an appropriate intervention to improve the quality of life and levels of self-care of children and adolescents with disabilities. However, as there are many aspects that affect QOL, it may be beneficial to include a control group in a future study.