Association between sensory processing and motor performance in children aged 6 to 11 years: a cross-sectional study

For motor responses to be appropriately adapted to the task, effective sensory processing is required. Our aim was to characterize sensory processing patterns and their association with motor performance in children aged 6 to 11 years.

This cross-sectional study included children aged 6 to 11 years, of both sexes, from public and private schools in a Brazilian municipality. The caregivers completed a sociodemographic questionnaire for characterization purposes and the Short Sensory Profile 2 (SSP2) to assess sensory processing. Children's motor performance was evaluated using the Movement Assessment Battery for Children - 2nd Edition. Children were divided into two groups: the typical group, composed of children with typical sensory processing, and the atypical group, composed of children with at least one atypical sensory processing pattern.

The final sample comprised 605 children (50.2% female; mean age 8.05 ± 1.38 years). The atypical group included 483 children, representing 79.8% of the sample. Sensory avoiding and sensory sensitivity were the most prevalent patterns, both predominantly classified within the "less than others" scoring category. There was no statistically significant association between motor performance and sensory processing groups. However, the sensory seeking pattern was identified as associated with higher odds for low motor performance, with children classified as "more" having 2.26 times higher odds of low motor performance compared with those classified as "typical." In contrast, the sensory avoidance pattern, being classified as "less," reduced the odds of low motor performance by 64% ([1 - 0.36] × 100) compared with the "typical" category. Additionally, male sex was associated with higher odds of low motor performance, whereas higher gestational age was associated with lower odds of low motor performance.

Although a large proportion of children presented at least one atypical sensory processing pattern, the most frequent score across all patterns was "typical." Moreover, sensory seeking emerged as associated with higher odds for low motor performance, while sensory avoidance was associated with lower odds for low motor performance. Further studies are needed to investigate the potential associations between sensory processing patterns and motor performance in children.