300 Section - Relationship between perinatal complications, associated conditions, early detection and care, and motor impairment in people with cerebral palsy in Colombia.

Tuesday, May 19, 2026

6:00 PM - 7:30 PM PT

Presenting Author/Autor expositor(s)

AP

Ana M. Posada, MD

Physiatrist
Universidad de Antioquia
Medellin, Antioquia, Colombia

Co-Author(s)

CT

Carolina Toro, MD

Physiatrist
Asociación Colombiana de Medicina Física y Rehabilitación
Medellin, Amazonas, Colombia
CQ

Carlos Quintero, MD

Physiatrist
Comité de Rehabilitación
Medellin, Antioquia, Colombia
JE

Johana Escobar, MS

Occupational therapist
Universidad de Antioquia
Medellin, Antioquia, Colombia
OL

Osorno Leidylaura, MD

Medical student
Universidad de Antioquia
Medellin, Antioquia, Colombia
DD

Duvan Duran, MD

physical and rehabilitation medicine resident
Universidad de Antioquia
Medellin, Antioquia, Colombia
AU

Alejandra Uribe, MD

Physical and rehabilitation medicine resident
Universidad de Antioquia
Medellin, Antioquia, Colombia

Objectives : To analyze the relationship between perinatal complications, associated conditions, detection, and early care according to gross motor impairment in people with cerebral palsy (CP).

Design: Observational, descriptive, cross-sectional study in people with CP at a rehabilitation center in Medellín, Colombia. Normal continuous variables were described as means with SDs, and discrete variables as percentages with 95% CIs. Fisher's exact test was used to compare differences between groups.

Results: Data were collected from 154 records of individuals with CP. The median age was 9.0 years (IQR 5.0–14.7). Of the total sample, 96 (62.7% [54-5-70.3]) had severe motor impairment (GMFCS IV-V). 96 (62.3% [54.1-69.9]) had complications during delivery and 76 (49.3% [41.1-57.4]) had sucking difficulties in the first month of life. Seventy-seven (50% [41.8-58.1]) were diagnosed in the first year, and 74 (48% [39.8-56.1]) began rehabilitation in the same period. This study reveals a statistically significant association between motor impairment and variables such as swallowing difficulties in the first month of life (p=0.004), detection (p=0.033), and early intervention (p=0.038) and associated conditions (intellectual disability (p=0.000), epilepsy (p=0.016), and dysphagia (p< 0.000)). These variables were more prevalent in individuals with severe motor impairment. No significant differences were found with variables related to complications during birth.

Conclusion: Children with greater motor impairment have greater difficulty sucking in the first month of life, are diagnosed and receive rehabilitation early (before 1 year of age), and are more likely to have intellectual disability, epilepsy, and dysphagia.