Cerebral Palsy Key Facts and Statistics

Cerebral Palsy Key Facts and Statistics
- Around 2-2.5 in every 1000 children in the UK are born with cerebral palsy
- There are approximately 1,800 children diagnosed with cerebral palsy every year
- There is an estimated 30,000 children with cerebral palsy in the UK
- There are 3 main types of cerebral palsy. However, many people will present a mixture of these types:
- Spastic Cerebral Palsy The most common form, present in 75-91% of people with cerebral palsy
- Dyskinetic Cerebral Palsy
- Ataxic Cerebral Palsy
- Cerebral palsy is the single largest cause of childhood physical disability in the developed world
- Cerebral palsy is more common in girls than boys
- The rate of cerebral palsy is significantly higher amongst children born prematurely or with low birth weight
- The life expectancy of a child with mild CP is much the same as the population average
- A child of two with cerebral palsy who cannot walk has a 3 in 4 chance of living to adulthood
- There is not always a single identifiable cause of cerebral palsy, the main causes include:
- Infection in the early part of pregnancy
- Lack of oxygen to the brain
- Abnormal brain development
- A genetic link (fairly rare)