Research Centres | Recent Statistics

2518 cases have been notified to the NICPR since 1977
Five percent of cases have ‘late impairment’ or acquired CP (i.e occurring after the neonatal period)
Ten percent of those notified have died

Table 1: Mean number of cases per year within each decade
Decade	Mean number of cases per year by decade
1980's	62 new cases
1990's	55 new cases
2000's	49 new cases

* The number of livebirths has decreased during the same period (1980-2008)

Figure 1: A graph showing the rate of early onset CP per 1000 livebirths by birth year

Table 2: Early onset cases of CP by year of birth
Year of birth	Early Onset CP cases (n)	Livebirth (n)*	Rate of CP per 1,000 livebirth	Male to female ratio
1977	55	25,548	2.15	2.24
1978	43	26,311	1.63	1.69
1979	53	28,043	1.89	1.30
1980	41	28,383	1.44	1.28
1981	49	27,166	1.80	0.88
1982	73	26,834	2.72	1.09
1983	63	27,038	2.33	1.63
1984	59	27330	2.16	1.68
1985	58	27,232	2.13	0.81
1986	64	28,152	2.27	1.78
1987	64	27,189	2.35	1.56
1988	73	28,694	2.54	0.87
1989	72	26,745	2.69	0.95
1990	57	26,516	2.15	1.48
1991	53	25,942	2.04	1.65
1992	47	25,457	1.85	1.47
1993	59	24,909	2.37	1.03
1994	54	24,098	2.24	0.93
1995	48	23,693	2.03	1.29
1996	53	24,382	2.17	1.21
1997	66	24,087	2.74	1.64
1998	64	23,668	2.70	3.27
1999	51	22,957	2.22	2.64
2000	46	21,512	2.14	1.71
2001	62	21,962	2.82	0.77
2002	36	21,385	1.68	1.25
2003	57	21,648	2.63	1.28
2004	56	22,318	2.51	2.29
2005	47	22,328	2.10	1.61
2006	51	23,272	2.19	1.04
2007	40	24,451	1.64	2.33
2008	44	25,631	1.72	1.75
All	1758	804,881	2.18	1.39

* Denominators taken from the Annual Reports of the Registrar General, Northern Ireland.

Table 3: Birthweight specific rates for early onset CP cases by year of birth
Year of birth	<1000g	1000- 1499g	1500-2499g	2500g+
1981	13.16	54.42	12.40	0.90
1982	12.66	68.70	12.53	1.74
1983	29.85	46.15	13.55	1.48
1984	27.78	72.99	8.88	1.28
1985	116.67	68.38	11.12	0.97
1986	63.83	50.31	8.57	1.47
1987	62.50	123.08	16.87	1.01
1988	*	*	*	*
1989	62.50	125.00	20.18	1.34
1990	83.33	85.27	7.96	1.24
1991	20.20	49.69	9.84	1.19
1992	75.00	23.62	7.58	1.08
1993	68.18	42.55	10.78	1.28
1994	63.16	44.44	11.12	1.31
1995	43.10	40.00	8.92	1.16
1996	32.26	56.34	10.52	0.91
1997	50.00	31.65	11.46	1.46
1998	28.04	50.63	13.56	1.07
1999	34.48	45.45	6.66	1.11
2000	41.67	25.81	4.71	1.08
All weights	47.38	56.17	12.85	1.42

* Denominators unavailable for 1988

Northern Ireland Cerebral Palsy Register