Journal of Multidisciplinary Healthcare (Jul 2025)
The Impact of Whole Body Vibration on Muscle Tone, and Sensory Motor Function in Children with Spastic Diplegic Cerebral Palsy
Abstract
Hisham Mohamed Hussein,1,2 Norah Dakheel,3 Hand Zamel M Alshammari,4 Amsha Alhumaidi Alshammari,5 Ahmed M Gabr,1,6 Shamekh Mohamed El-Shamy,1,6 Shahanawaz SD,1 Rehab Hussien A,7 Ibrahim Metwally Dewir,8 Amany Raafat Mohamed,9 Ahmed Abdelmoniem Ibrahim1 1Department of Physical Therapy, College of Applied Medical Sciences, University of Ha’il, Ha’il, Saudi Arabia; 2Department of Basic Sciences for Physical Therapy, Faculty of Physical Therapy, Cairo University, Giza, Egypt; 3Physical Therapy Department, King Salman Rehabilitation Center for Disabled Children, Ha’il, Saudi Arabia; 4Department of Physical Therapy, Hayati Center Day Care, Ha’il, Saudi Arabia; 5Rehabilitation Care Department, Maternity and Children’s Hospital, Ha’il, Saudi Arabia; 6Department of Physical Therapy for Pediatrics, Faculty of Physical Therapy, Cairo University, Giza, Egypt; 7Department of Diagnostic Radiology, College of Applied Medical Sciences, University of Ha’il, Ha’il, Saudi Arabia; 8Department of Physical Therapy, College of Applied Medical Sciences, Taif University, Taif, Saudi Arabia; 9Department of Physical Therapy for Internal Medicine & Geriatrics, Faculty of Physical Therapy Suez University, Suez, EgyptCorrespondence: Ahmed Abdelmoniem Ibrahim, University of Ha’il, PO Box:2440, Ha’il, Saudi Arabia, Tel +966561028613, Email [email protected]: Children with diplegic cerebral palsy (CP) have limited muscle tone, function, and sensorimotor function. Whole-body vibration (WBV) has been suggested to enhance muscle tone and function in diplegic CP. However, there were limited studies involving the effect of WBV on the tone and function of diplegic CP; we aimed to investigate the effect of WBV on muscle tone, function, and sensorimotor function in children with CP.Patients and Methods: This is a single-blind randomized controlled clinical trial involving 54 spastic diplegic CP child recruited from local rehabilitation centers in the Ha’il region of Saudi Arabia, they were randomly divided into the WBV group (n = 28 with mean age of 9.47± 1.92), which received standard physical therapy and WBV therapy, and the control group (n = 26 with mean age of 9.73± 1.62) they received standard physical therapy three time per week for four weeks; Muscle tone, function, strength and Sensory motor integration were evaluated pre and post interventions.Results: At baseline, the two groups had no significant differences. After treatment, the measured outcomes (function, muscle strength, and sensory motor integration) showed statistically significant differences (p < 0.05). However, muscle tone was not substantially improved (p = 0.10). In addition, within-group comparisons demonstrated substantial effects (p < 0.05) except Spasticity, Function, and trace assessment of the control group, where the p-values were(0.33, 0.06, and 0.54, respectively).Conclusions: According to the findings in this study, both conventional physical therapy and WBV are beneficial in treating spastic diplegia.Keywords: cerebral palsy, diplegia, whole-body vibration, spasticity, function
