Efficacy of Intensive Neurodevelopmental Treatment for Children With Developmental Delay, With or Without Cerebral Palsy

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the effectiveness of intensive neurodevelopmental treatment (NDT) on gross motor function for the children having developmental delay (DD), with or without cerebral palsy (CP). METHODS Forty-two children had intensive NDT three times weekly, 60 minutes a day, for 3 months, immediately followed by conventional NDT once or twice a week, 30 minutes a day, for another 3 months. We assessed Gross Motor Function Measure (GMFM) over three time points: before conventional NDT, before and after intensive NDT, and after 3 months of additional conventional NDT. RESULTS The GMFM score in DD children significantly improved after intensive NDT, and the improvement maintained after 3 months of conventional NDT (p<0.05). The children were further divided into two groups: DD with CP and DD without CP. Both groups showed significant improvement and maintained the improvements, after intensive NDT (p<0.05). Also, there was no significant difference in treatment efficacy between the two groups. When we calculate the absence rate for comparing the compliance between intensive and conventional NDT, the absence rate was lower during the intensive NDT. CONCLUSION Intensive NDT showed significantly improved gross motor function and higher compliance than conventional NDT. Additionally, all improvements were maintained through subsequent short-term conventional NDT. Thus, we recommend the intensive NDT program by day-hospital centers for children with DD, irrespective of accompanying CP.