Most primary caregivers of children with cerebral palsy (CP) believe they have a substantial understanding of their child's condition, a belief that is highly associated with the caregiver's confidence that the provider spent sufficient time explaining the diagnosis, according to a cross-sectional study from a large tertiary medical center in Boston, Massachusetts.
A 31-question, interviewer-administered telephone survey was completed by 52 caregivers of children who had received a diagnosis of CP or a related term, such as hemiplegia or diplegia. Half the questions were open-ended, and the other half were true/false questions about CP. Although all the interviewed caregivers knew that their child had a medical condition involving motor function or movement, only two-thirds confirmed...