Improving coordination, proprioception, balance and motor proficiency in Down syndrome with developmental games

This study aimed to investigate the impact of corrective-developmental games on proprioception, coordination, balance and motor proficiency in individuals with Down syndrome. The current quasi-experimental study with pre-test and post-test design explores the impact of corrective-developmental games (fine-gross motor skill games and univariate-multivariate games) on the proprioception, coordination, balance and motor proficiency of individuals with Down syndrome. The research sample comprises 50 individuals with Down syndrome, with an average age of 17.38 years, divided into two groups: intervention (13 men and 13 women) and control (12 men and 12 women). After the pre-test, the intervention group participated in a series of games, including fine-gross games and univariate-multivariate games, for 8 weeks (24 1-h sessions in total). Mid-test and post-test were conducted after 4 and 8 weeks, respectively. To assess balance, the Stork test (test-retest reliability: 0.59), Sharpened Romberg test (reliability: 0.76-0.91) and Y Balance test (reliability: 0.84-0.87) were used. The Purdue Pegboard test and knee position sense with a goniometer (open and closed eyes) evaluated eye-hand coordination and sense of position. The Bruininks-Oseretsky test (retest coefficient: 0.78-0.86) measured motor proficiency. Repeated measures ANOVA revealed significant improvements in the intervention group for static balance (Stork test, P = 0.001), dynamic balance (Y test, P = 0.001), position sense (open eyes: P = 0.001, closed eyes: P = 0.001), two-hand coordination (P = 0.001), preferred hand coordination (P = 0.001), gross motor proficiency (P = 0.001), upper limb coordination (P = 0.001) and total motor proficiency (P = 0.001). The intervention group significantly outperformed the control group post-intervention on all measures except the Stork test and fine motor proficiency. The findings of this research confirm the beneficial effect of games-based interventions on motor fitness and corrective-developmental indicators in Down syndrome. Future studies should investigate the long-term impact on daily life activities and generalizability to similar populations. The results have potential implications for designing effective interventions to enhance motor skills in individuals with Down syndrome.