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Developmental Disabilities |
How common is cerebral palsy?
MADDSP
tracks the number of school-age children living in five counties of
metro Atlanta who have cerebral palsy, hearing loss, vision impairment,
intellectual disabilities, and/or autism spectrum disorders. In 1996, an
estimated 3.6 per 1,000 8-year-old children in metro Atlanta, or about 1
in 278, had cerebral palsy. In 2000, the prevalence was an estimated 3.1
per 1,000, or about 1 in 323, 8-year-olds. In 1996 and 2000,
respectively, 55% and 60% of children with cerebral palsy also had one
or more other developmental disabilities tracked by MADDSP.
[Read more about MADDSP]
CDC also studied how many children in metropolitan Atlanta had cerebral palsy in the mid-1980s. This project was done as part of the Metropolitan Atlanta Developmental Disabilities Study (MADDS), which studied how common certain disabilities were in 10-year-old children. We found that 23 of every 10,000 10-year-old children had cerebral palsy. Eighty-one percent of the children had spastic cerebral palsy. Seventy-five percent had one or more other disabilities (epilepsy, mental retardation, hearing loss,
or vision impairment.
[Read a summary of the article about cerebral palsy in
MADDS]
[Read more about MADDS]
In another study, CDC used data from the National Health Interview Survey -
Child Health Supplement to find the number of children with cerebral palsy in the United States in 1988. The survey asked parents, or other adults, if children
in the home had cerebral palsy. The study showed that 23 of every 10,000 children
17 years of age or younger had cerebral palsy.
[Read a summary of the article on cerebral palsy in the United
States]
Related CDC Activities
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The Autism and Developmental
Disabilities Monitoring (ADDM) Network
tracked the number of children with autism spectrum disorders
and cerebral palsy in three sites in 2002 and 2004 and four
sites in 2006.
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The Epidemiologic Studies of
Reproductive and Developmental Outcomes in Denmark are looking
at the relationship between the risk of cerebral palsy and
exposures such as intrauterine infection during pregnancy and
assisted reproductive technology.
[Return to Topics]
References:
Boyle CA, Decoufle P, Yeargin-Allsopp M. Prevalence and health impact of developmental disabilities in US children.
Pediatrics. 1994;93:399-403. [Read
a summary of the Boyle et al article]
Murphy CC, Yeargin-Allsopp M, Decoufle P, Drews CD. Prevalence of cerebral palsy among ten-year-old children in metropolitan Atlanta, 1985 through 1987.
Journal of Pediatrics 1993;123:S13-20. [Read
a summary of the Murphy et al article]
What
causes cerebral palsy? Can it be prevented?
Cerebral palsy is caused by brain damage that affects a child's ability to control his
or her muscles. The part of the brain that is damaged determines what parts
of the body are affected. There are many possible causes of the brain
damage. Some causes affect how the child's brain develops during the first
6 months of pregnancy. These causes include genetic conditions and problems with
the blood supply to the brain. Other causes of cerebral palsy happen after the brain has developed. These causes can occur during later pregnancy, delivery, or the first years of the child's life. They include bacterial meningitis and other infections, bleeding in the brain, lack of oxygen, severe jaundice, and head injury.
Children who are born prematurely or who are very low birth weight (less than 1,500 grams or about 3 1/3 pounds) are more likely to have problems that might lead to cerebral palsy. However, children who are full term and normal birth weight can also have cerebral palsy.
CDC funds the North Atlantic Neuro-Epidemiology Alliance (NANEA) to study factors that might make it more likely a child will develop cerebral palsy. These factors include infection, bleeding, and raised temperature during pregnancy. The studies are being done in Denmark.
[Read more on the NANEA Web site - click on Research and then on Cerebral Palsy]
CDC has studied the causes of cerebral palsy among 3- to 10-year-old children in MADDSP in 1991.
For 10% of the children, the cause of their cerebral palsy had happened after they were 30 days old. The most common causes in these children were meningitis, child abuse, stroke, and car crashes.
[Read the MADDSP study of causes of cerebral
palsy]
CDC also looked at the causes of cerebral palsy among 10-year-old children in MADDS in the mid 1980s.
For 16% of the children, the cause of their cerebral palsy also had happened after they were 30 days old. The most common of these causes were infections, head injury, and stroke.
[Read a summary of the MADDS study that looked at causes of cerebral
palsy]
If you would like to learn more about a
specific genetic condition that you think could cause cerebral palsy, you
can go to the National Library of Medicine's Genetics Home Reference Web
site. Information on each genetic condition includes symptoms, how common
the condition is, related genes, treatments, and links to resources where you can learn more about the condition. The Genetics Home Reference
Web site also can help you learn more about genetics, including about genetic testing, genetic counseling, and gene therapy.
[Go to the Genetics Home Reference Web
site]
Some causes of cerebral palsy can be prevented. For example, bike helmets and car seats can prevent head injuries that might result in cerebral palsy. Another cause that can be prevented is kernicterus, a kind of brain damage that happens when a newborn baby has too much jaundice. In some newborn babies, the liver makes too much yellow pigment, called bilirubin. If too much bilirubin
builds up in a new baby's body, the skin and whites of the eyes turn
yellow. This yellow coloring is called jaundice. A little jaundice is not a
problem. It is actually very common in newborn babies and usually goes away
by itself. Some babies, however, have too much jaundice. If not treated,
these high levels of bilirubin can damage a baby's brain. Kernicterus most often causes cerebral palsy and hearing loss, but in some children it can also cause mental retardation. Kernicterus can be prevented by using special lights (phototherapy)
or other therapies to treat babies.
[Read more about kernicterus]
Cerebral palsy cannot be cured. Treatment can, however, help a person take part in family, school, and work activities as much as possible. There are many treatments, including physical therapy, occupational therapy, medicine, operations, and braces.
[Return to Topics]
References:
Batshaw ML. Children with disabilities (4th edition). Baltimore MD: Paul H. Brookes Publishing
Co.;1997.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Postnatal Causes of Developmental Disabilities in Children Aged 3-10 Years -- Atlanta, Georgia, 1991.
Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. 1996;45:130-134. [Read
the postnatal causes article]
Geralis E (Editor). Children with
cerebral palsy: a parents' guide. Rockville, MD: Woodbine
House; 1991.
Murphy CC, Yeargin-Allsopp M, Decoufle P, Drews CD. Prevalence of cerebral palsy among ten-year-old children in metropolitan Atlanta, 1985 through 1987.
Journal of Pediatrics 1993;123:S13-20. [Read
a summary of the Murphy et al article]
National Institute of Neurological
Disorders and Stroke.
Cerebral palsy: hope through research.
What is the cost or economic
impact associated with cerebral palsy?
Many people with cerebral palsy need
long-term services or care. The average lifetime cost for one person with
cerebral palsy is estimated to be $921,000 (in 2003 dollars). This
represents costs over and above those experienced by a person who does not
have a disability.
It is estimated that the lifetime costs
for all people with cerebral palsy who were born in 2000 will total $11.5
billion (in 2003 dollars). These costs include both direct and indirect costs.
Direct medical costs, such as doctor visits, prescription drugs, and
inpatient hospital stays, make up 10% of these costs. Direct nonmedical
expenses, such as home modifications, car modifications, and special
education, make up 9% of the costs. Indirect costs, which include the value
of lost wages when a person dies early, cannot work, or is limited in the
amount or type of work he or she can do, make up 81% of the costs.
These estimates do not include other
expenses, such as hospital outpatient visits, emergency department visits,
residential care, and family out-of-pocket expenses. The actual economic
costs of cerebral palsy are, therefore, even higher than what is reported
here.
[Return to Topics]
References
Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention. Economic costs associated with mental retardation, cerebral
palsy, hearing loss, and vision impairment --- United States, 2003. MMWR
2004;53:57-9. [Read
this article on economic costs]
Honeycutt AA, Grosse SD, Dunlap LJ,
Schendel DE, Chen H, Brann E, al Homsi G. Economic costs of mental
retardation, cerebral palsy, hearing loss, and vision impairment. In:
Altman BM, Barnartt SN, Hendershot GE, Larson SA, editors. Using survey
data to study disability: results from the National Health Interview Survey
on Disability. Research in social science and disability, volume 3.
Amsterdam: Elsevier; 2003. p. 207-28.
We provide links to other Web pages if you want to learn even more about a topic. Some of these pages are
within the CDC Web site and others are on outside Web sites. CDC has no
control over the content on these outside sites. Links to such sites
are included for information only. The views and opinions expressed there are not necessarily those of CDC, the
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), or the U.S. Public Health Service
(PHS). |
Date: October 29, 2004
Content source: National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental
Disabilities
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