Clinicians and researchers of the Adult Study Group have been meeting regularly to refine questions for the CPRN Patient Reported Outcomes registry. Input from the adults with cerebral palsy on the CPRN Community Advisory Committee this summer indicated that consumers wanted more information about pain management, pain prevention, optimizing function with aging, and issues with social and emotional function.

The study group adapted a survey widely used to study pain and pain management. It is developing a survey to ask individuals about perceived changes in function with aging, how they are managing these changes, social and physical supports, community and employment activities, satisfaction with life, anxiety, and depression.

Two initial surveys are being created. The first survey will focus on pain, and will allow answers to questions about pain location, interference, and management.  It will provide useful information for clinicians and consumers.

The second survey will focus on physical, social, and emotional function. It will allow the adult study group to describe self-reported functional changes, social challenges and successes, and emotional struggles and victories.  It will provide useful information for clinicians and consumers.

The study group is planning to have the surveys piloted tested in December by the community advisors for release to the broader CP community in Q1 2017. People interested in CPRN surveys should sign up for CPRN alerts.

This is an important step to begin to address the needs of adults with cerebral palsy. Studying the adult population with CP was determined to be a critical need at the 2014 Workshop on the State of the science and treatments in CP that was held by the National Institutes of Health.