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Motor Difficulties and Their Effect on Participation in School-Aged Children
Aviva Mimouni-Bloch1, Michal Tsadok-Cohen2, Orit Bart3
1Pediatric Neurology and Developmental Unit, Loewenstein Rehabilitation Hospital, Raanana, Israel Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel.
Insights
Children with motor problems in preschool often continue to have them in school age. Despite persistent motor skill deficits, these children achieve similar participation levels as their peers.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric occupational therapy
- Child development
- Motor control research
Background:
- Motor difficulties identified in the preschool years can impact a child's development.
- Understanding the long-term effects of early motor problems is crucial for intervention.
- Persistent motor challenges may affect school-age functioning and participation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To determine if preschool-diagnosed motor problems persist into school age.
- To investigate the impact of these persistent motor difficulties on children's participation.
- To evaluate motor function and participation in school-aged children with a history of motor difficulties.
Main Methods:
- Longitudinal study design involving children aged 7-12 years with prior occupational therapy referrals for motor difficulties.
- Inclusion of an age-matched control group of typically developing children.
- Utilized parent-completed questionnaires assessing participation, developmental coordination disorder, and performance skills 4-6 years post-treatment.
Main Results:
- Children with a history of motor difficulties showed significant differences in motor function compared to controls.
- No significant differences in most participation domains were found between groups, except for parental satisfaction.
- Children with typical development exhibited higher scores in motor and process skills than those with persistent motor difficulties.
Conclusions:
- Motor difficulties originating in the preschool period often persist into school age.
- Children with persistent motor difficulties demonstrate performance skill challenges.
- Despite skill deficits, children with motor difficulties successfully bridge participation gaps, engaging similarly to their peers.
Purpose:
The purpose was to examine whether children diagnosed with motor problems in the preschool period still exhibit motor problems at school age and the impact of these difficulties on participation.
Method:
The study group comprised 60 children 7-12 years old who were referred to occupational therapy 4-6 years prior to study initiation due to motor difficulties. The control group comprised 28 age-matched children with typical development. Parents completed the Participation, Developmental Coordination Disorder and Performance Skill Questionnaire 4-6 years after treatment.
Results:
Significant differences were found between children with and without motor difficulties in motor function, but not in any of the participation domains except for parental satisfaction. Children in the control group had significantly higher scores than children with motor difficulties in motor and process skills.
Conclusions:
Motor difficulties persist into school years. Children with motor difficulties manifest performance skill problems, however they succeed in narrowing the gap and participate similar to their peers.
