Effect of Sensory Integration Therapy on Gross Motor Development and respiratory Function of Cerebral Palsy Children

감각통합치료가 뇌성마비 아동의 대근육 운동발달 및 호흡기능에 미치는 영향

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of sensory integration therapy (SIT) on gross motor development and respiratory function of cerebral palsy children. The design of this study was one-group pre-and post-test design. Subjects of the study were arbitrarily chosen based on predetermined selection criteria among the cerebral palsy children who were treated as out-patients at one rehabilitation hospital in Kyunggi-do. The study was conducted between early April and late July in 2000. Twelve children were in the experimental group. A five-step SIT program was devised from a combination of SIT programs suggested by Ayres(1985) and Fink(1989), and an author-designed SIT program for cerebral palsy children. The experimental group was subjected to 20 to 30 minutes of SIT per session, two sessions a week for ten-week period. Collected data were statistically analyzed by SPSS PC for Wilcoxon signed rank test, and paired t-test. The results were as follows: 1. In gross motor development, post-experimental gross motor scores were higher compared to pre-experimental scores with statistical significance. 2. In respiratory function, post-experimental forced capacity vital scores were higher compared to pre-experimental scores with statistical significance. In conclusion, SIT was found to be effective in gross motor development and respiratory function. But, for the more effectiveness of SIT on gross motor development and respiratory function, further studies employing longer-time experiments are recommended.