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The Relationship Between Postural Control and Fundamental Movement Skills in Children With Developmental Coordination
Charlotte Johnson1,2, Ann Hallemans1, Pieter Meyns2
1Research Group MOVANT, Department of Rehabilitation Sciences and Physiotherapy (REVAKI), University of Antwerp, 2610 Wilrijk, Antwerp, Belgium.
Insights
Postural control significantly impacts locomotor skills in children with typical development, developmental coordination disorder (DCD), and mild cerebral palsy (CP). However, unique group factors also influence this relationship, suggesting targeted interventions.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric physical therapy
- Motor control research
- Developmental disorders
Background:
- Fundamental movement skills (FMS) are crucial for childhood development.
- Children with developmental coordination disorder (DCD) and mild cerebral palsy (CP) often exhibit impaired FMS.
- Postural control is essential for motor skills but its specific contribution to FMS in these populations is not well understood.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the relationship between postural control and FMS performance.
- To compare postural control and FMS in children with DCD, mild CP, and typical development (TD).
Main Methods:
- A case-control study involving 127 children (aged 5.0-10.9 years): DCD (N=48), TD (N=59), and mild spastic CP (N=20).
- Assessed FMS using the Test of Gross Motor Development-3 (TGMD-3).
- Evaluated postural control using the Kids-Balance Evaluation Systems Test-2 (Kids-BESTest-2).
Main Results:
- Children with TD demonstrated significantly better FMS than those with DCD and mild CP.
- Postural control (Kids-BESTest-2) and FMS (TGMD-3) showed significant correlations across all groups (r = 0.42 - 0.77).
- Postural control explained 69% of locomotor skill variance but not ball skill performance. Anticipatory postural adjustments were the key postural domain influencing FMS.
Conclusions:
- Postural control is a significant factor in locomotor skill development, particularly in children with typical development.
- Unique group-specific factors, beyond postural control, influence FMS in children with DCD and mild CP.
- Future research should explore task-oriented postural training and other influencing factors like body functions and environment on FMS.
Importance:
Impaired fundamental movement skills are prevalent among children with developmental coordination disorder (DCD) and mild cerebral palsy (CP). Although postural control is a prerequisite for gross motor skills, its role in fundamental movement skills is understudied.
Objective:
This study aims to determine the extent to which postural control contributes to fundamental movement skill performance in children with DCD, mild CP, and with typical development (TD).
Design:
This was a case-control study.
Participants:
Participants were 127 children aged 5.0 to 10.9 years (DCD [N = 48], TD [N = 59)], mild spastic CP [N = 20]). Children with CP were classified as Gross Motor Function Classification System I (N = 11) or II (N = 9), and as having either unilateral (N = 11) or bilateral CP(N = 9).
Main Outcomes And Measures:
The Test of Gross Motor Development-3 (TGMD-3) evaluated fundamental movement skills, and the Kids-Balance Evaluation Systems Test-2 (Kids-BESTest-2) assessed postural control. The domain and total scores of both tests were used for analysis.
Results:
Children with TD significantly outperformed those with DCD and mild CP, while DCD and mild CP performed similarly. Across groups the Kids-BESTest-2 and TGMD-3 correlated significantly (r = 0.42-0.77). The total Kids-BESTest-2 score and group (TD-DCD-mild CP) explained 69% of locomotor skill variance but did not significantly explain ball skill performance (R2 = 0.40). Among postural control domains, only anticipatory postural adjustments contributed to fundamental movement skills. Group effects were larger (ηp2 = 0.15-0.31) than the effects of Kids-BESTest-2 scores (ηp2 = 0.01-0.12).
Conclusions And Relevance:
The findings suggest that postural control plays a role in locomotor performance but that unique group-specific factors influence this relationship. Further research should investigate the impact of postural control task-oriented training on fundamental movement skills, and should examine the influence of additional factors, such as body functions and environmental influences on fundamental movement skill development.
