Research into cerebral palsy has a history dating back to the 1840s when William Little first sought to understand the condition. There is an active, global research community that has undertaken some high-quality work that has advanced our understanding of CP. However, there’s a lack of a central resource for those with a professional interest or have been directly affected by CP that defines and describes the vital research that has been and is being undertaken globally, so we have commissioned a review of what research was either underway or had recently reported.

Our review, Cerebral palsy: causes and prevention authored by Dr AnnieBelle Sassine, highlights 150 research studies that have added significantly to our knowledge and has also helped us identify the gaps in research activity based on what we now understand about CP and understanding the state of research funding. You can view a recording of her presentation at an event to launch the review here.

While the picture is limited to what we were able to discover through publicly available sources, our review also provides enough of a picture to raise some concerns for anyone with an interest in combatting CP.

Much of this concern centres on the commonly-held view of CP as a comparatively ‘rare’ condition, meaning that research investment is significantly less than for conditions with higher incidence and prevalence. While CP’s incidence is estimated to afflict between 1.5 and 4 babies in every 1,000, no one knows this for certain as there are no universally consistent means of diagnosing CP or reporting its incidence in either the developed or developing worlds.

This ‘rarity’ argument also ignores the disproportionate social cost that is CP’s legacy: the condition is lifelong and frequently involves 24-hour care for those affected. National social-/health-care budgets and those of medical insurance companies for those not supported by a national health service continue to be stretched by the need for ever-increasing provision: CP costs the UK alone well over £1.6 billion every year. Yet the amount invested annually on research by government and other charities is worryingly small: the figure for the UK is less than £5 million, 0.23% of research funding. The UK is not alone in this – our report also reveals a similar picture of cost : investment disparity globally.

We have summaries of the key research studies identified in Cerebral palsy: causes and prevention to help explain their impact on our understanding of CP. Click here to access a database of the summaries.