Handedness in diplegic cerebral palsy

Objective: To determine if the frequency of left-handedness is high in children with spastic cerebral diplegia. Design: Case-control study. Methods: One hundred and eleven children with spastic diplegic cerebral palsy and 444 age- and gender-matched controls were studied. The handedness of each child was assigned on the basis of responses to questions on the hand preference for writing and drawing, feeding and throwing a ball. The data were analysed by conditional logistic regression and computing the odds ratio and 95 confidence intervals for left handedness. Results: Of the 111 children with spastic diplegic cerebral palsy, 45 were left-handed, while 13 of 444 normal children were left-handed. The odds ratio for left-handedness in children with diplegic cerebral palsy as compared to normal children was 27.33 (95 CI11.63, 64.25). Conclusion: The study shows that left-handedness is very frequently encountered in children with spastic diplegic cerebral palsy.