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An Instrumented Assessment of a Rhythmic Finger Task among Children with Motor Coordination Difficulties
Artal Keinan1, Tami Bar-Shalita1, Sigal Portnoy1
1Occupational Therapy Department, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 6997801, Israel.
Insights
A new low-cost Sensorized Finger Sequencing Test (SFST) effectively identifies movement variability in children with motor difficulties. This tool offers an objective measure for assessing proprioception, often missed in standard evaluations.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Neurology
- Motor Control Research
- Biomedical Engineering
Background:
- Objective clinical evaluation of motor coordination is limited.
- Sensorized assessment tools can provide objective data.
- A low-cost sensorized evaluation for a rhythmic finger task was developed.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop and test the reliability and validity of the Sensorized Finger Sequencing Test (SFST).
- To assess movement pattern variability in children with and without coordination difficulties.
- To explore the SFST's potential as an objective measure for proprioception.
Main Methods:
- Children aged 5-7 years with (n=24) and without (n=24) coordination difficulties performed the SFST.
- The SFST recorded sequence correctness, total time, and standard deviation (SD) of touch time.
- Motor performance tests and parent reports were used to validate the SFST; test-retest reliability was assessed in 10 healthy children.
Main Results:
- Children with coordination difficulties showed significantly higher total time and SD of touch time.
- SFST scores did not correlate with other motor performance tests.
- Test-retest reliability for SD of touch time in the dominant hand was high (r=0.87).
Conclusions:
- The SFST successfully identified movement pattern variability in children with motor difficulties.
- The low-cost SFST shows promise as an objective measure for assessing proprioception.
- This tool could complement existing standardized motor assessments by evaluating overlooked components.
Background:
Coordination is crucial for motor function, yet objective clinical evaluations are limited. We therefore developed and tested the reliability and validity of a low-cost sensorized evaluation of a rhythmic finger task.
Methods:
Children with coordination difficulties (n = 24) and typically developing children (n = 24) aged from 5 to 7 years performed the Sensorized Finger Sequencing Test (SFST), a finger sequencing test that records the correct sequence, total time, and the standard deviation (SD) of touch time. Additionally, motor performance tests and parents' reports were applied in order to test the reliability and validity of the SFST.
Results:
The study group had significantly greater thumb-finger test scores-total time in the dominant hand (p = 0.035) and the SD of the touch time in both dominant (p = 0.036) and non-dominant (p = 0.032) hands. Motor performance tests were not correlated with the SFST. Test-retest reliability in 10 healthy children was found for the SD of touch time in the dominant hand (r = 0.87, p = 0.003).
Conclusions:
The SFST was successful in assessing the movement pattern variability reported in children with motor difficulties. This exploratory study indicates that the low-cost SFST could be utilized as an objective measure for the assessment of proprioception components, which currently are overlooked by standardized motor performance assessments.
