OBJECTIVE: Evaluate the relationship between the Gross Motor Function Classification System and Functional Oral Intake Scale in patients with cerebral palsy. CASE REPORT: Twenty-one patients with cerebral palsy who were 2-21 years old were studied. They were analyzed by the following: the Gross Motor Function Classification System, nutritional status, and the Functional Oral Intake Scale. For statistical analyses, the Pearson's correlation coefficient was used to evaluate possible correlations between the studied variables. In this study, we classified 86% of the patients at level 5 in gross motor function. When comparing, the level of scale in functional oral intake with the level of gross motor function obtained by Pearson correlation was 0.6. In the analysis of the elements, only 5% of patients were classified at gross motor function level 3; 10%, at level 4; and 86%, at level 5. In the analysis of the Functional Oral Scale, we classified 47.6% of patients at level 1; 4.8%, at level 2; 9.5%, at level 3; 33.3%, at level 5; and 4.8%, at level 7. CONCLUSION: In this study, most of the sample is at level 5 in gross motor function in cerebral palsy or have extensive motor impairment. The relationship between the lowest level on the scale of functional food and greater restriction of the mouth is associated with the highest level of motor impairment.
