Feasibility Trial of Thumb Taping by Parents in Infants with Cerebral Palsy: Brief Report

ABSTRACT

Aim: To determine the feasibility and acceptability of parent-delivered elastic taping to the thumb and wrist in infants with cerebral palsy (CP).

Design: Randomized cross-over feasibility trial.

Participants: 20 infants (11 male; mean age 22 months) with CP.

Intervention: Groups A and B received taping for 4 and 2 weeks, respectively.

Outcomes: Primary: Recruitment and retention rates; adherence to protocol; Parent Satisfaction Questionnaire. Secondary: House Thumb score; Zancolli classification; Assisting Hand Assessment (AHA)/mini AHA. Exploratory: Duration of hand regard, thumb in palm, and open hand contact with toys during AHA/mini AHA.

Results: Recruitment was feasible (95.2% uptake). Completion rates were 80% and 60% in Groups A and B. Questionnaire feedback was generally positive. Some parents reported increased awareness of the taped hand. Objective improvements were rare though one participant showed consistent improvement in thumb position.

Conclusion: Taping proved feasible and acceptable; individual case benefit suggests further research is required.

Trial registration: ISRCTN41918400.

KEYWORDS:

• Infant
• thumb
• hand
• cerebral palsy
• feasibility studies

Acknowledgments

Susan Robson and Hannah Preston (data collection); Debra Gardner (comments on study design and results). Thanks to all participants and their families.

JP has been a coapplicant or received salary support on projects funded by NIHR, BACD/RCPCH, WellChild, and Tiny Lives. JC has received honoraria from Ipsen Pharmaceuticals for development of teaching and training materials and delivery of lectures in 2017 and 2018; and from Novartis Pharmaceuticals for delivery of a lecture in 2017; and has previously received research funding from the National Institute of Health Research, Action Medical Research, BACD (Paul Polani Award), the Castang Foundation, WellChild and the Childrens Foundation. VW, CJ, PM-B, MB, JJJ, SK report no conflicts of interest. AB has received research funding from Newcastle University, Newcastle Healthcare Charity, and was coapplicant on projects funded by NIHR RCF, NIHR HTA, SPARKS, and the Physiotherapy Research Foundation as well as receiving educational grants from Tiny Lives, Ipsen and the Great North Childrens Hospital Fund. AB is funded by a Career Development Fellowship award from the National Institute for Health Research. The views expressed in this publication are those of the author and not necessarily those of the NHS, the National Institute for Health Research or the Department of Health.

Additional information

Funding

Paul Polani Research Award, British Academy of Childhood Disability.