A pilot study to measure marks in children with cerebral palsy using a novel measurement template
Child: Care, Health, and Development, 08/21/2012
Bennett T et al. – Further evaluation of the application of such a template would be worthwhile. They would suggest that finding of some bruising in this population of disabled children is borne in mind whenever bruising is found in a non–ambulant child.
Methods- Twenty primary school age children, the majority of whom were non-ambulant and severely disabled with cerebral palsy, underwent full skin examination.
- The template was used to assess any bruises seen. A comparison was then made between measurements made by experienced paediatricians using the template and using a standard tape measure on a series of bruise images in 25 photographs.
- The majority of children in pilot were found to have bruises, with one child having 6 and one 7 bruises.
- This comparative study showed that the two techniques had a very similar precision and that the template was easy to use.
- Greater precision would require a tighter measurement protocol, whether with a template or a tape measure.
