On Wednesday, December 7 at 8 pm ET, Liz Boyer, PhD, will present the preliminary findings of her study entitled the “Consequences of Falls in Individuals with Cerebral Palsy.” This presentation is based on data that was gathered in part in our MyCP Community Registry during the months of July and August 2022. This study seeks to close a knowledge gap to better estimate how the burden of falls differs over a lifespan and between gross motor ability in individuals diagnosed with CP.

Dr. Boyer is a Clinical Scientist at Gillette Children’s Hospital in the Center for Gait and Motion Analysis and an adjunct assistant professor in the Department of Orthopedic Surgery at the University of Minnesota. She received her PhD in kinesiology with an emphasis in biomechanics and motor control. Dr. Boyer has been with Gillette since 2015 when she started as a post-doc.

The subjects that participated in this study ranged in age from five to 76 years old and were self-reported as level I – III (ambulatory) using the Gross Motor Function Classification System. More research is needed to identify characteristics of individuals who experience the greatest number of injurious falls including psychological and societal consequences even if falls are non-injurious.

Click here to see Consequences of Falls