Suriname Cerebral Palsy Register – preliminary data from the first hospital-based surveillance of children with cerebral palsy in Suriname

Aim To describe the epidemiology of cerebral palsy (CP) among children and their access to rehabilitation and education in Suriname. Methods Hospital-based surveillance of children with CP at the Academic Hospital in Suriname between August 2018 and March 2020. Results Data were collected from 82 children with CP (mean (SD) age: 5y 0mo (3y 10mo)). The median age of diagnosis was 5y 2mo. Spastic CP was predominant (73.2%), 58.8% had gross motor function classification system level III-V. Overall, 42.2% had preterm birth compared to 13.9% reported nationally (p<0.001), 57% had birth-related complications in comparison to 15% reported nationally (p<0.001). Additionally, 39.1% had birth asphyxia, 23.2% had early feeding difficulties. Sixty-two percent were admitted to Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, 54.0% of them required ventilation. Majority (82.5%) had CP acquired pre-or perinatally and 17.5% had CP acquired post-neonatally. Sixteen percent had never received any rehabilitation services, and 31.9% of the school-aged children were not enrolled in any education system. Interpretation The high burden of known risk factors, substantially delayed diagnosis and severe functional impairment among registered children with CP in Suriname is concerning. Public health interventions targeting early diagnosis and intervention could improve the functional outcome of children with CP in Suriname. What this paper adds ### Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest. ### Funding Statement Training of clinicians and the set-up of the SUR- CPR was supported by Cerebral Palsy Alliance Research Foundation Project Grants (PRG02919 & PRG10318) ### Author Declarations I confirm all relevant ethical guidelines have been followed, and any necessary IRB and/or ethics committee approvals have been obtained. Yes The details of the IRB/oversight body that provided approval or exemption for the research described are given below: Medical Ethical Committee of the Ministry of Health, Suriname (VG34-17A) I confirm that all necessary patient/participant consent has been obtained and the appropriate institutional forms have been archived, and that any patient/participant/sample identifiers included were not known to anyone (e.g., hospital staff, patients or participants themselves) outside the research group so cannot be used to identify individuals. Yes I understand that all clinical trials and any other prospective interventional studies must be registered with an ICMJE-approved registry, such as ClinicalTrials.gov. I confirm that any such study reported in the manuscript has been registered and the trial registration ID is provided (note: if posting a prospective study registered retrospectively, please provide a statement in the trial ID field explaining why the study was not registered in advance). Yes I have followed all appropriate research reporting guidelines, such as any relevant EQUATOR Network research reporting checklist(s) and other pertinent material, if applicable. Yes All data produced in the present study are available upon reasonable request to the authors