Abstract

Background: Cerebral palsy is the most commonly diagnosed condition in children presenting with disability. This could be attributed to the lack of awareness on the quantifiable and largely preventable risk factors associated with it and poor knowledge of simple public health measures against these factors.

Objective: To evaluate the risk factors associated with cerebral palsy in Nnamdi Azikwe University Teaching Hospital, Nnewi, Anambra state, Nigeria.

Materials and Methods: This is a case–control study carried out with 40 case study population of children diagnosed with cerebral palsy and 80 control group of children who do not have cerebral palsy. The study was carried out using a pro forma to access and collect relevant data from the records (folders) of these individuals.

Result: There is a statistically significant relationship between cerebral palsy and the following risk factors—birth asphyxia (X2 = 18.98; P < 0.01; OR = 7.71), neonatal jaundice (X2 = 5.958; P

Key words: Cerebral palsy, tertiary health facility, risk factors, odds ratio