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Final Program


Final Program

551 - Therapy Utilization and Disease Outcomes in Adults with Cerebral Palsy Post-Fracture: A Retrospective Review

Friday, February 28, 2025
5:00 PM - 6:30 PM MST
Objectives: (1) Assess utilization of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (PM&R) physicians and physical and occupational therapy (PT and OT) in adults with cerebral palsy (CP) post-fracture and (2) explore associations between rehabilitation interventions and development of non-communicable disease.

Design:

A retrospective chart review was performed for adults with CP (aged >17 years) with an inpatient admission following a fracture. The primary outcomes tracked were the initiation of medical follow-up, noting whether this included PM&R visits, as well as initiation of PT and OT within 6 months and 1 year post-fracture. The secondary outcomes included tracking the incidence of cardiovascular and respiratory disease following the fracture.

Results:

The study included 63 patients (57.1% male), with mean age 39.95 years. Of 43 patients with documented recommendation for PT, 37 (86.1%) received this service. 20 of 32 patients (62.5%) with a recommendation for OT received OT. 57.1% of patients who started seeing a physiatrist within 6 months of the fracture continued with physiatry follow up for up to one year. Similarly, 66.7% of patients who started PT and 69.6% of patients who started OT within 6 months of fracture continued with PT and OT, respectively, for up to one year.

There was a trend toward patients receiving PT and/or OT being less likely to develop new-onset cardiovascular disease (OR = 0.87, 95% CI: 0.29-2.6, p = 0.8) or new-onset respiratory disease (OR = 0.77, 95% CI: 0.26-2.27, p = 0.64). The lack of statistical significance might be attributed to having a small sample size.

Conclusions:

This data highlights the importance of recommending early intervention for fractures in adults with CP, which may minimize the risk of developing new-onset or new exacerbations of noncommunicable diseases. This potential association may be due to improved mobility after therapy.