Adults with cerebral palsy are more likely to experience the debilitating pains of musculoskeletal disorders, but they receive significantly less physical therapy for those ailments, according to a recent study.
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Adults with cerebral palsy are more likely to experience the debilitating pains of musculoskeletal disorders, but they receive significantly less physical therapy for those ailments, according to a recent study.
The findings, published in
Disability & Health, analyzed four years of Medicare service claims from community-living older adults with and without cerebral palsy who had one or more ambulatory claims for a musculoskeletal diagnosis. Fewer than one-third of general population patients utilized physical therapy. Those with cerebral palsy, despite having greater risk of secondary comorbid conditions, received even less physical therapy. The results are staggering, but they support our hypothesis that people with cerebral palsy receive inequitable health care, says Mark Peterson, Ph.D., the Charles E. Lytle, Jr. Research Professor of physical medicine and rehabilitation at Michigan Medicine and co-author of the paper. We know adults with cerebral palsy have muscu