Aetiology and epidemiology of cerebral palsy

Cerebral palsy is a common and significant disorder of motor development, with an incidence of 2–2.5 per 1000 live births. Despite improvements in antenatal and perinatal care, there has been little change in the overall numbers of children developing cerebral palsy in the last 40 years. More extremely premature infants are surviving and have more severe forms of cerebral palsy. The common risk factors are prematurity, small-for-gestational age, multiple pregnancy and maternal genitourinary infections. Many children have more than one risk factor for developing cerebral palsy and it is useful to consider causal pathways to cerebral palsy rather than singe causal events. Only by understanding the aetiology and epidemiology of cerebral palsy can programmes be developed to prevent cerebral palsy and plan health services to meet the needs of the affected children.