Effect of crawling training on the cognitive function of children with cerebral palsy

Our aim is to investigate the influence of crawling training on the cognitive function of patients with cerebral palsy. This study compared the clinical efficacy of crawling training on 36 patients with cerebral palsy (the experimental group) and 32 patients treated with normal movement training (the control group). We compared the crawling function (The Movement Function Scale for Infants with Cerebral Palsy), cognitive and language function (The Comprehensive Functional Rating Scale for Children with Disabilities), intelligence [IQ and DQ scores in the Chinese Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (C-WISC)], memory and attention (the attention/nondistraction factor in the C-WISC) changes of the children before and after treatment. The total treatment efficiency of the experimental group was significantly higher than that of the control group (94.44 vs. 71.87%, P = 0.012). The scores for crawling function, cognitive and language functions, intelligence quotient, development quotient and attention factor increased notably in both groups after treatment, and there was a statistical difference compared with the scores of each group before treatment (P < 0.05 for all). After treatment, the scores of the experimental group were significantly higher than those of the control group. Crawling training has good clinical efficacy for patients with cerebral palsy. It can improve patients' crawling, cognitive and language functions as well as their intelligence, memory and attention, and it has value for clinical application.