Rough vs. Smooth Balance Surfaces in Spastic Cerebral Palsy

Physical therapists and physical therapist assistants who work with children with cerebral palsy in outpatient, school-based, or early intervention settings, and who use balance boards, balance balls, and textured surfaces as part of a therapy session.

Physical therapists and physical therapist assistants

Intended audience

Physical Therapy

Level

Introductory

Delivery format

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

Based on

This course summarizes a single peer-reviewed publication: a single-blind (evaluator-blinded) randomized controlled trial titled Effects of balance training on different surfaces on ankle proprioception and functional balance in children with spastic cerebral palsy. The trial was conducted at Hatay Mustafa Kemal University, Faculty of Health Sciences, Department of Physiotherapy and Rehabilitation, between September 2022 and February 2023, and was registered with ClinicalTrials.gov as NCT05676983 (registered retrospectively on 03 January 2023). Ethics approval was granted by the Hatay Mustafa Kemal University Clinical Research Ethics Committee, and signed parental consent was obtained for every child. The authors report the trial according to the CONSORT statement.

Every claim, figure, and conclusion in this course traces to that publication. Where the article itself is uncertain or internally inconsistent, this course says so rather than resolving it. Nothing has been added from other literature, and no recommendation is issued here that the source did not issue itself.

After completing this course, you will be able to:

1. Describe the population, the two training conditions, and the eight-week protocol used in this randomized controlled trial of balance training on rough versus smooth unstable surfaces.
2. State what the trial found for functional balance measures and for ankle joint position sense in each of the two groups.
3. Explain the limitations the authors identified and how those limitations shape what the findings can and cannot support in pediatric practice.

1. Start Here: How This Course Works
2. Podcast Discussion: Texture Underfoot — about nine minutes
3. Why Ankle Position Sense Matters in Spastic Cerebral Palsy
4. Inside the Trial: Two Balance Balls, Eight Weeks
5. What Changed by the End of Training
6. Small Sample, Short Horizon: The Limits of This Trial
7. Reading the Findings Into Pediatric Practice
8. Key Takeaways
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 summarizes a single peer-reviewed publication: a single-blind (evaluator-blinded) randomized controlled trial titled Effects of balance training on different surfaces on ankle proprioception and functional balance in children with spastic cerebral palsy. The trial was conducted at Hatay Mustafa Kemal University, Faculty of Health Sciences, Department of Physiotherapy and Rehabilitation, between September 2022 and February 2023, and was registered with ClinicalTrials.gov as NCT05676983 (registered retrospectively on 03 January 2023). Ethics approval was granted by the Hatay Mustafa Kemal University Clinical Research Ethics Committee, and signed parental consent was obtained for every child. The authors report the trial according to the CONSORT statement.
2. Every claim, figure, and conclusion in this course traces to that publication. Where the article itself is uncertain or internally inconsistent, this course says so rather than resolving it. Nothing has been added from other literature, and no recommendation is issued here that the source did not issue itself.