Abstract

Associations among Participation, Activity, and Neighborhood Characteristics among Children with Cerebral Palsy

Sarah Creveling¹, Rachel Hott², Mario Keko³, Haresh Rochani, DrPH, MPH, M.B.B.S.³, Ashley Walker, Ph.D., CHES³, Christopher Modlesky, PhD⁴, Gavin Colquitt, EdD¹ (1)Center for Rehabilitation and Independent Living, Georgia Southern University, (2)Department of Health Sciences and Kinesiology, Georgia Southern University, (3)Jiann-Ping Hsu College of Public Health, Georgia Southern University, (4)Department of Kinesiology, University of Georgia

APHA 2022 Annual Meeting and Expo

Participation and activity among children with cerebral palsy (CP) is often lower compared to typically developing children (TDC). We used data from the 2016-2020 National Survey of Children's Health (NSCH) to examine environmental factors (EF) and their relationship to PA and sport among children with CP compared to TDC. Specifically, we examined the EF of (1) neighborhood safety, (2) neighborhood support, (3) neighborhood amenities, (4) and school safety and their relationship to participation in daily PA and sport. We also examined relationships among participation in community settings, work for pay, and PA among children with CP and TDC. The results indicated that only 32.3% of children with CP participated in sports, compared to 65.9% of TDC (p<0.05). We found that children with CP were 70% less likely to participate in daily PA (AOR 0.3; 95% CI [.2, .5]); however, participating in sports increases the odds of participating in daily PA by 2.3 times. Children with CP who lived in supportive neighborhoods were 55% more likely to participate in daily PA (p<0.05). Contrarily, TDC were 64% more likely to participate in daily PA if they lived in a supportive neighborhood. As participation in sport and physical activity are important to the overall health and well-being of the child, community-based interventions that focus on removing barriers to PA and participation are needed for children with CP. This presentation will provide an overview of study results and current recommendations for PA among children with CP.