Abstract
The pressure/pain thresholds (p/pT) of 30 normal children and 30 cerebral palsied (CP) children were compared. Three measurements of p/pT were taken on each of five areas of the plantar surface of the foot. Rank-order correlations between these areas were all significant. In each group, the heel was the least sensitive and the mid-arch was the most sensitive, except in the CP walkers where the first metatarsal was the least sensitive. On the five areas of the foot tested, the CP non-walkers had lower thresholds than the normals, and the normals had lower thresholds than the CP walkers on four of the areas. When the difference was considered, significant differences were found between the CP non-walkers and the CP walkers on the big toe, the first metatarsal, and the fifth metatarsal. The ratio for non-walkers also differed from that of normals on the big toe and the first metatarsal. The variability is large in both groups, but the normal group was more variable than the CP group. There was a trial effect which showed highest thresholds on the third trial in the normal group and on the second trial in the CP group. The two groups differed when compared on the basis of p/pT. These differences should be studied further. The meaning of these data should be reconsidered when analysis of data on other sensory tests on the same children have been completed. A first step in developing a reliable quantitative method for use in comparing thresholds of either areas of the foot or of groups of Ss has been taken. Thus, clinical judgments need no longer be the standard employed in making such comparisons.
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