[Caregiver burden in patients with moderate-severe cerebral palsy. The influence of nutritional status].

Abstract Introduction Patients with moderate-severe cerebral palsy (CP) require the support of their caregivers to carry out the Activities of Daily Living (ADLs). Objectives: to describe the comorbidities, need for care in children with CP and to analyse the influence of the degree of motor involvement, nutritional status and other neurological disorders. Methods Cross-sectional and observational study. Patients with CP degrees III–IV–V according to the Gross Motor Function Classification System (GMFCS) have been studied. A record of comorbidities has been made and body composition has been studied using anthropometry and bioimpedance. In addition, a caregiver burden survey on ADLs has been carried out (10 items on the different actions: hygiene, clothing, transfers, sleeping and feeding). Which variables have the greatest influence on the perception of difficulty in performing ADLs have been studied. Results 69 patients (50.7% women, mean age 10.46 ± 0.4 years) were analysed, with GMFCS grades: grade III 36.2% (N = 25), grade IV 29.0% (N = 20), grade V 34.8% (N = 24). A relationship was found between the caregiver burden score and GMFCS grade (p = 0.003) and intellectual disability (DI) (p  Conclusions In addition to the degree of clinical impairment, nutritional status is a factor that influences the caregiver's difficulty in performing the ADLs in CP patients on which we can act to improve this problem.