An Epidemiological Study of Cerebral Palsy in Western Australia, 1956–1975. II: Spastic Cerebral Palsy and Perinatal Factors

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Abstract
Although the incidence of spastic cerebral palsy is falling in Western Australia, the contribution made by low birth wt and small-for-date [human] infants who have significant neonatal morbidity and who were treated in neonatal intensive care units increased significantly. This suggests factors other than care as being important in diminishing the incidence of spastic cerebral palsy. Further falls in incidence may result from improvements in management of the very small and very sick neonate and preventive programs aimed at pre-term births. Obstetric intervention and fetal distress were more frequent in recent cerebral-palsy cases than in the controls. Falling neonatal mortality among low birth wt infants in Western Australia coincided with an increased incidence of spastic cerebral palsy in these infants, despite an overall drop in incidence of cerebral palsy.

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