Adults with Cerebral Palsy: Studies on physical activity, fitness and experienced problems

textabstractCerebral palsy (CP) is a frequently occurring condition in childhood: in the Netherlands children with CP account for approximately 50% of pediatric rehabilitation patients. CP is defined as “a group of permanent disorders of the development of movement and posture, causing activity limitation, that are attributed to non-progressive disturbances that occurred in the developing fetal or infant brain. The motor disorders of cerebral palsy are often accompanied by disturbances of sensation, perception, cognition, communication, and behaviour, by epilepsy and by secondary musculoskeletal problems”. Prevalence ranges from 1.39 to 2.80 per 1000 live births in Europe. In a Dutch population-based study, the average prevalence over 12 birth years (1977-1988) was 1.51 per 1000 inhabitants. The CP prevalence rose significantly over time: from 0.77 per 1000 inhabitants in 1977-1979 to 2.44 per 1000 in 1986-1988. Over the past decades, life expectancy for well-functioning adults with CP has increased and is close to that of the unaffected population