Objective: To assess whether a slackline intervention program improves postural control in children/adolescents with spastic cerebral palsy (CP).
Design: Randomized controlled trial.
Setting: Patients' association.
Participants: Twenty-seven children/adolescents with spastic CP (9-16 years) were randomly assigned to a slackline intervention (n = 14, 13 ± 3 years) or control group (n = 13, 12 ± 2 years).
Intervention: Three slackline sessions per week (30 min/session) for 6 weeks.
Main outcome measures: The primary outcome was static posturography (center of pressure-CoP-parameters). The secondary outcomes were surface myoelectrical activity of the lower-limb muscles during the posturography test and jump performance (countermovement jump test and Abalakov test). Overall (RPE, >6-20 scale) rating of perceived exertion was recorded at the end of each intervention session.
Results: The intervention was perceived as "very light" (RPE = 7.6 ± 0.6). The intervention yielded significant benefits on static posturography (a significant group by time interaction on Xspeed, p = 0.006) and jump performance (a significant group by time interaction on Abalakov test, p = 0.015).
Conclusions: Slackline training improved static postural control and motor skills and was perceived as non-fatiguing in children/adolescents with spastic CP.
Keywords: exercise; motor disorders; neuro-disability; non-conventional balance therapy; rehabilitation.