Cerebral palsy in Pakistan: A review of study approaches, status of research and trends

Cerebral palsy in Pakistan

Abstract

Objective: Cerebral palsy (CP) is a long-term motor disorder and is one of the major presentations in pediatric neurological anomalies and the cause of disability in Pakistan. This study was aimed to assess the status of scientific literature on CP published from Pakistan, in order to observe the trend in knowledge over the years and to highlight the study gaps.

Study design: Systematic review

Materials and methods: A comprehensive literature review was conducted from Dec. 2021 to Jan. 2022, and keywords ‘Cerebral palsy’, ‘Ataxic cerebral palsy’, ‘Athetoid cerebral palsy’, ‘Cerebral palsy in Pakistan’, ‘Epidemiology of cerebral palsy’, ‘Cerebral palsy risk factors’, ‘hearing, vision, speech impairment and epilepsy in cerebral palsy’ were utilized. The search engines PubMed, PakMediNet, Medline, ScienceDirect and GoogleScholar were employed to retrieve articles.

Results: From a total of 203 articles published during 1995-2021, 139 were selected for review. These analyses revealed that the primary focus of CP research in Pakistan has been its treatment and management. Over the years the treatment strategy has been shifted from surgery to various non-invasive therapies including physical, speech, occupational and behavioral. The clinical types and risk factors have also been reported in epidemiological study designs.

Conclusion: There is, however, a paucity of research in basic areas like prevalence and incidence of CP, etiological diagnosis, clinical heterogeneity, genetics and molecular underpinning of CP. Detailed studies in these domains are warranted to accomplish a broader understanding of CP and to device effective intervention strategies.