The effectiveness of cognitive rehabilitation and physical exercise on locomotor movement skill of children with developmental coordination disorder

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of cognitive rehabilitation and physical exercise on locomotor movement skill of children with DCD.

The present study is a quasi-experimental study with a pre-posttest design with a control group. 80 boys aged 6-10 years (mean age: 8.68±1.2) were selected from primary school students in Shiraz using multi-stage cluster sampling method and were randomly divided into three experimental and control groups. Developmental Coordination Disorder Questionnaire (DCDQ7), Raven Intelligence Test and Movement Assessment Buttery for Children (MABC-2) were used to screen children and the Ulrich Gross Motor Skills Development Test (TGMD-2) was used to assess locomotor movement skills. Experimental groups performed the interventions for 8 weeks, Paired t-test and analysis of covariance were used to analyze the data.

The results showed that the locomotor movement skill score in the groups of cognitive rehabilitation, physical exercise and combined intervention from the pre-test to post-test stages increased significantly (P<0.05). While in the control group no significant difference was observed (P>0.05).

Concomitant use of cognitive rehabilitation-related interventions with physical exercise is more effective in improving locomotor movement skill in children with developmental coordination disorders.