PRACTICE OF A PRECISION ISOMETRIC GRIP-FORCE TASK BY CHILDREN WITH SPASTIC CEREBRAL-PALSY

The ability to produce and sustain a criterion level of precision isom etric grip force was studied in a group of 7- to 12-year-old children with cerebral palsy (CP) and in a control group. on-line visual feedba ck of the forces produced relative to a stationary target was provided for each B-second trial. Subjects practised 48 trials on each of 3 co nsecutive days. Measures of accuracy and variability revealed signific antly reduced accuracy and increased variability in isometric force pr oduction for the group with CP. Both groups demonstrated improvement w ith practice, with the significantly greater change in the control sub jects. There was substantial variability in performance among subjects with CP. Gains associated with practice were sustained over a 5-day r etention interval for both groups. The requirement to control proximal segments of the upper extremity was not associated with increased err or in grip-force production of the group with CP.