Objective

Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease (CMT) is a hereditary peripheral neuropathy and belongs to neuromuscular diseases. CMT affects motor function of children, but its clinical expressions are heterogeneous and it could also influence cognitive and psychosocial dimensions of patients. Physical activity is recommended for adults with CMT, but any study has been conducted with children. It is important to propose to children with CMT an adapted physical activity that enables a global approach of the patient. Dance has beneficial motor, cognitive and psychosocial effects. The goal of the present exploratory study is to evaluate motor, cognitive and psychosocial impacts of an adapted dance program among children with CMT.

Material/patients and methods

Five children with CMT followed a ten weeks dance program in addition to regular care, while four others received only the regular care. Motor (CMT clinical characteristics, muscular strength and power, postural control, pain), cognitive (rhythm task, sustained attention, short term memory) and psychosocial (behavior, self concept and quality of life) parameters were evaluated before and after the ten weeks program for all participants.

Results

Significant benefits were shown for both motor (CMT clinical characteristics, strength of leg muscle groups, pain during physical activity) and cognitive (rhythm task performance, sustained attention) functions for the dance group. No other significant change was noticed for other parameters.

Discussion–conclusion

These results suggest that a specific dance program added to regular care can have beneficial effects on motor and cognitive functions of the child that can be affected by CMT. Dance appears as a new approach particularly adapted for children with CMT, and further research is needed to confirm the results of the present study. A new study is being made based on the results of the present one, to evaluate more precisely the impact of a new adapted dance program on balance among children with CMT.