Dynamic Evaluation of Motor Coordination and Variability in Children with and without Developmental Coordination Disorder

Evaluating variability can help to investigate the process underlying motor coordination problems. The current study aimed to measure motor coordination and its variability in children with Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD). Moreover, the symmetry of motor coordination variability in these children and the relation between motor skills and variability were explored.

After evaluating motor skills in children, aged 7-10 years using Movement Assessment Battery for Children-2 (MABC-2), 15 children with DCD and 20 non-DCD children performed a bilateral coordination task. Using motion capture system, motor coordination and variability were recorded and calculated by computing continuous relative phase and its standard deviation, respectively.

The study with an ethical code of IR.UT.SPORT.REC.1396030 was approved by Ethics Committee of Faculty of Physical Education and Sport Sciences of University of Tehran.

Children with DCD showed significantly higher variability, while there was no significant difference between the groups in performing the coordination task. Moreover, the variability of motor coordination was found asymmetrical in children with DCD. Finally, more variability was shown to be accompanied with lower score in motor skills of the participants.

The current study shows the necessity of employing assessments related to underlying process of movement coordination such as variability, which can help to provide more comprehensive understanding of motor patterns of children with DCD and the strategies that they adopt to execute and produce movement.