Dyskinetic Cerebral Palsy in Children: Clinical Perspectives on Common Comorbidities and Health-Related Quality of Life.
Kids with dyskinetic cerebral palsy almost always carry extra health burdens—so screen wide and early.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Saini et al. (2025) looked at 65 children with dyskinetic cerebral palsy. They listed every extra health problem each child had. They also asked parents how the kids felt about life.
The team wanted to see how many kids had vision, sleep, feeding, or thinking issues. They used charts and parent forms to collect the data.
What they found
Almost every child had more than one health issue. Vision trouble, sleep problems, and hard feeding were common. Parents said life quality was low.
The study did not test any treatment. It only described what the children lived with every day.
How this fits with other research
Tezcan et al. (2013) also used the same life-quality form and found kids with any type of cerebral palsy score lower than kids with spina bifida. Gahlot’s new data say dyskinetic kids fit that pattern too.
Wilson et al. (2023) showed 44% of school-aged kids with cerebral palsy meet criteria for intellectual disability. Gahlot’s group saw high rates of cognitive delay, so the numbers match.
Griffith et al. (2012) found 57% of young CP patients have a psychiatric diagnosis. Gahlot’s call to screen early lines up with that warning.
Why it matters
If you work with dyskinetic cerebral palsy, expect a stack of extra needs. Screen vision, sleep, feeding, and cognition at intake. Share the list with the child’s pediatrician and teachers so no issue hides. Early checks save time later and lift life quality for the kid and the family.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
BACKGROUND: The data on specific comorbidities in children with dyskinetic cerebral palsy (DCP) is limited. We evaluated the pattern of comorbidities and health related quality of life (HRQOL) in these children and compared them between etiological and motor impairment subgroups. METHODOLOGY: This cross-sectional study was conducted over 18 months in children with DCP of both sex, and age between one and 14 years. Comorbidities were assessed using standardized scales such as gross motor functioning scale (GMFCS), developmental profile-3 (DP-3), developmental behaviour checklist, sleep behaviour questionnaire (SBQ), and caregiver questionnaire. RESULTS: Sixty-five children with DCP were evaluated (hyperbilirubinemia n = 43, 66% and perinatal asphyxia n = 19, 29%). The majority of children were severely affected in gross motor functioning (level IV 29.2% and level V 53.8%). Epilepsy was seen in 21.5% of cases (19% in hyperbilirubinemia and 32% in asphyxia, p = 0.4). The mean age of onset of seizures was 15.4 + 20.6 months (range 2-72). Visual problems were seen in 54% of cases and included upgaze palsy, squint, refractive error, optic atrophy and cortical blindness. A significant proportion of children with hyperbilirubinemia had upgaze palsy as compared to those with perinatal asphyxia (70% vs. 32%, p 0.01). Rest of the visual problems were not significantly different between the two etiological subgroups. Drooling (87.6%), protein-energy malnutrition (66.6%), and reflux (57%) were the most common gastrointestinal problems in children with DCP. Children with DCP showed problems in social relating (33.8%), anxiety (26.2%), and self-absorbed behaviour (7.7%). However, there were no statistically significant differences between the etiological, motor impairment and age-based subgroups. Children with DCP had high scores on SBQ, suggesting sleep problems. Sleep scores were similar in the hyperbilirubinemia and perinatal asphyxia subgroups. Greater sleep problems were noted in children aged < 4y (70.6 + 10.1 vs. 56.5 + 11.3, p < 0.05 as compared to children above 4y of age) and severe motor impairments (68.2 + 11.3 vs. 57.2 + 13.1, p 0.008 as compared to mild-moderate motor impairment). Poor overall developmental scores were seen in 61.5% children and were significantly associated with GMFCS (p 0.04). The majority of children showed impairments in physical (58.5%), adaptive behaviour (58.5%), social-emotional (50.8%), cognitive (60%) and communication (52%) subscales of DP-3. Cognitive impairment was similar in the etiological (hyperbilirubinemia vs. perinatal asphyxia, p = 0.3), and motor impairment (mild-moderate vs. severe, p = 0.9) subgroups. HRQOL was significantly affected by motor impairment in positioning-transfer (p value 0.0001), and interaction-communication domains (p value 0.0001), however, there was no difference based on the etiology of hyperbilirubinemia and asphyxia. CONCLUSION: Children with DCP demonstrate several comorbidities and impaired quality of life. These are similar in hyperbilirubinemia and perinatal asphyxia cohorts, expect for significant proportion of upgaze palsy in DCP secondary to hyperbilirubinemia. Younger children have more problematic behaviour and impaired sleep quality. Severe motor disability influences the developmental outcomes, cognition, sleep and HRQOL in children with DCP.
Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 2025 · doi:10.1111/j.1651-2227.1991.tb11955.x