Improvements in Function Following Inpatient Activity-Based Therapy for Children With Acute Flaccid Myelitis

Acute flaccid myelitis (AFM) is a condition characterized by the rapid onset of limb paralysis, often following a viral illness. This study looks at how children with AFM improve after participating in activity-based restorative therapy (ABRT) while staying in the hospital. ABRT involves repeated movements to help regain lost function. The study found that children with AFM who underwent ABRT showed gains in muscle strength and overall function. This suggests that rehabilitation can be helpful for children with AFM, even long after the initial illness.

• 1
  Children with AFM demonstrated statistically significant gains from admission to discharge across all clinical measures administered.
• 2
  Significant change was seen from admission to discharge across all WeeFIM subdomains, including self-care, mobility, and cognition, with effect sizes ranging from small (cognition) to large (self-care, mobility, and total score).
• 3
  Children also showed significant improvement on the SCIM and PAMS testing, with large effect sizes seen for both measures.