Modified Sports for Participation Goals and Activity Competence in Ambulant Children With Cerebral Palsy: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Physical therapists and physical therapist assistants who work with ambulant children with cerebral palsy in clinics, schools, community programmes, or publicly funded services, and who want a clear account of what a low-dosage group sports programme did and did not change in a randomized trial.

Licensed physical therapists and physical therapist assistants. Content is also relevant to occupational therapists, physical education professionals, and rehabilitation programme managers involved in paediatric group programming. Physical therapist assistants work under the direction of physical therapists; evaluation, goal setting, and plan-of-care decisions remain with the supervising physical therapist.

Intended audience

Physical Therapy

Level

Intermediate

Delivery format

Online, asynchronous, self-paced course: interactive reading with audio or video, and a scored post-test.

Based on

This course is built on one peer-reviewed randomized controlled trial. All findings, figures, and conclusions reported in the course trace to this article.

Sousa Junior RR, Clutterbuck GL, Guimaraes RF, Souza MG, Silva LC, Wright FV, Camargos ACR, Leite HR. Modified sports intervention for improving participation goals and activity competence in ambulant children with cerebral palsy: A randomized controlled trial. Dev Med Child Neurol. 2026;68(1):128–141. doi:10.1111/dmcn.16393. PMID: 40605736. PMCID: PMC12683307.

Scope of the course

The course reports what this single trial found and how confident its authors were. It does not extend the findings to non-ambulant children, to adolescents, or to settings the trial did not study, and it does not issue practice recommendations of its own.

After completing this course, you will be able to:

1. Describe the population, setting, and intervention studied in the Sports Stars Brazil randomized controlled trial, including the age range, Gross Motor Function Classification System levels, session format, and what the comparison group received.
2. State which outcomes favoured the modified sports programme immediately after the eight-week intervention and which additional outcomes favoured it at the 12-week follow-up, and which outcomes showed no clear difference between groups.
3. Explain the limitations the authors themselves identified and the conclusion they drew about the programme's value as a low-cost, group-delivered option, particularly in low-resource settings.

1. Start Here: how the course works, what the source is, and what it does not cover
2. The Evidence in Brief: audio discussion of the trial (about nine minutes)
3. Sports Stars Brazil and the Children Who Were Studied
4. Inside the Trial: Randomization, Eight Sessions, and the Usual Care Comparison
5. What Changed: Participation Goals, Motor Skills, and Physical Activity
6. Where the Trial Falls Short: Missing Control-Group Data and a Small Sample
7. What a Low-Dosage Group Programme Could Mean in Practice
8. Key Takeaways Before the Quiz
9. Post-test and course evaluation

Quinn Millington, PT, DPT, ECS is the instructor of record: the licensed clinician who reviewed this course and signed off on it. The name and credentials print on the certificate.

Disclosures. This course was developed by The ConEd Solution, which has a financial interest in its sale. No outside funding or sponsorship was received. The instructor of record has no affiliation with the authors of the source publication or their institutions.

This course awards 0.5 contact hours (30 min). How you earn them:

1. Complete the course. Every lesson, in order.
2. Pass the post-test. Score 80% or higher. Retakes are allowed.
3. Complete the evaluation. A short form rating each learning objective and the course.
4. Download your certificate. It is issued on completion and stays available in My Account.

The episode time is its measured length. Reading, post-test and evaluation times are estimates.

This course is designed to satisfy the quality requirements state boards set for continuing education. Requirements vary by state, and confirming that a course fits your renewal is up to you. Each state’s own acceptance statement is in the credit panel on this page.

1. This course is built on one peer-reviewed randomized controlled trial. All findings, figures, and conclusions reported in the course trace to this article.
2. Sousa Junior RR, Clutterbuck GL, Guimaraes RF, Souza MG, Silva LC, Wright FV, Camargos ACR, Leite HR. Modified sports intervention for improving participation goals and activity competence in ambulant children with cerebral palsy: A randomized controlled trial. Dev Med Child Neurol. 2026;68(1):128–141. doi:10.1111/dmcn.16393. PMID: 40605736. PMCID: PMC12683307.
3. Scope of the course
4. The course reports what this single trial found and how confident its authors were. It does not extend the findings to non-ambulant children, to adolescents, or to settings the trial did not study, and it does not issue practice recommendations of its own.