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Identifying Developmental Motor Difficulties: A Review of Tests to Assess Motor Coordination in Children
Alice Cancer1, Rebecca Minoliti1, Maura Crepaldi2
1Department of Psychology, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, 20123 Milan, Italy.
Insights
Early identification of motor impairments in children is crucial. This review compares 14 tools for assessing developmental coordination disorder (DCD), emphasizing the need for culturally valid assessments.
Area of Science:
- Pediatrics
- Developmental Psychology
- Motor Control
Background:
- Motor coordination difficulties are increasingly recognized in children.
- Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) impacts motor proficiency.
- Standardized, norm-referenced tests are recommended for early identification.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review and compare 14 international motor assessment tools for children and adolescents.
- To evaluate motor tests based on task nature, psychometric properties, and cultural adaptation.
- To discuss implications for DCD diagnosis and clinical practice.
Main Methods:
- Systematic review of 14 motor performance assessment tools.
- Comparison based on task types (questionnaire, clinical examination).
- Evaluation of psychometric properties and cultural adaptations.
Main Results:
- Motor proficiency assessment varies with task nature.
- Psychometric properties and cultural validity differ across tools.
- Need for culturally adapted and validated assessments is highlighted.
Conclusions:
- Selecting appropriate DCD assessment tools requires careful consideration of reliability and validity across cultures.
- Further research is needed to compare validation studies and guide clinical practice.
- Standardized, culturally sensitive assessments are key for accurate DCD diagnosis.
Abstract:
The latest guidelines recommend early identification of children with motor impairments using a standardized norm-referenced test. Motor coordination difficulties in developmental age have been studied extensively over recent years, with experimental literature on developmental coordination disorder (DCD) suggesting that motor proficiency assessments depend on the nature of the task at hand. In this article we reviewed 14 assessment tools to measure movement performance in childhood and adolescence, which are often referred to in an international context. This updated review aims to compare motor tests depending on a) the nature of the tasks included in the battery (i.e., questionnaire and clinical examination), b) psychometric properties, and c) cultural adaptation to relevant developmental norms. Finally, implications for diagnosis and clinical practice are discussed. Considering there are several tests used for DCD, it is important to better define their reliability and validity in different cultures in order to better compare the validation studies and select the most appropriate test to use in the assessment procedure.
