Objectively Measured Physical Activity In Children With Developmental Coordination Disorder: A Systematic Review And Meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVE: To conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis to understand the difference in objectively measured physical activities (PA) between children with and without developmental coordination disorder (DCD). DATA SOURCES: A systematic literature search from four databases (PubMed, Science Direct, Web of Science, and Cochrane library) was conducted in July 2023. STUDY SELECTION: Studies that met the following criteria were considered: (1) the studies should classified children with DCD based on DSM-IV, DSM-IV-TR, or DSM-V diagnosis criteria, (2) the studies aimed to evaluate PA using objective measurements and provided the amount of time spent in PA and/or SB, (3) a control group of TD children was recruited, (4) the full-text article was written in English. DATA EXTRACTION: The following data from all included studies were extracted: the first author's surname and published year, study design, country, total sample size, the measure of PA, the intensity of PA, categories of PA level and main finding(s). DATA SYNTHESIS: 12 articles met the inclusion criteria for the systematic review, 10 of which were further entered into the meta-analysis. Overall mean difference in moderate to vigorous PA (MVPA) between two groups was -0.17 (95% CI: -0.25 to -0.09, I2 = 48.7%, p = 0.029). When subgroup analysis of age was further conducted (i.e., school-aged vs. preschool), a significant pooled effect size with no heterogeneity was found in school-aged children (i.e., 6-14 years old) (standardized mean difference (SMD) = -0.27, 95% CI: -0.38 to -0.16, I2 = 43.1%, p = 0.08). CONCLUSIONS: Children with DCD spent significantly less time participating in MVPA, specifically those children aging between 6 and 14 years. These findings help raise the awareness for the parents and physicians toward insufficient participation in PA in children with DCD.

Moderation of parental socioeconomic status on the relationship between birth health and developmental coordination disorder at early years.

Objective: This study investigated whether parental SES moderates the effect of birth health on Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) in preschool children. Methods: One hundred and twenty-two children aged 4 to 6 years were enrolled in the study. The Movement Assessment Battery for Children --2nd Edition (MABC-2) test was used to assess the motor coordination of children. They were preliminarily categorized into either the DCD (<=16th percentile, n = 23) or typically developing (TD) group (>16th percentile, n = 99) based on the testing results. All children in the DCD group were further confirmed to meet other diagnostic criteria of the DSM-V using the intellectual test and parental questionnaires. Moderation analysis was conducted using the PROCESS macro for SPSS, and 95% confidence intervals with a bootstrap procedure were calculated to identify the significant moderating effect. Results: Maternal education (unstandardized coefficient = 0.6805, SE = 0.3371, p < 0.05) and maternal employment status (unstandardized coefficient = 0.6100, SE = 0.3059, p < 0.05) were found to moderate the relationship between birth length and the probability of having DCD. Moreover, the relationship between birth weight and the probability of having DCD was moderated by the annual household income (unstandardized coefficient = -0.0043, SE = 0.0022, p < 0.05). Conclusion: The lower maternal education level and maternal unemployment strengthened the negative relationship between birth length and the probability of having DCD. Additionally, the negative relationship between birth weight and the probability of having DCD was statistically significant in high annual household salaries.

Sensory Processing Impairments in Children with Developmental Coordination Disorder.

The two objectives of this systematic review were to examine the following: (1) the difference in sensory processing areas (auditory, visual, vestibular, touch, proprioceptive, and multi-sensory) between children with and without developmental coordination disorder (DCD), and (2) the relationship between sensory processing and motor coordination in DCD. The following databases were comprehensively searched for relevant articles: PubMed, Science Direct, Web of Science, and Cochrane library. There were 1107 articles (published year = 2010 to 2021) found in the initial search. Full-text articles of all possibly relevant citations were obtained and inspected for suitability by two authors. The outcome measures were sensory processing impairments and their relationship with motor coordination. A total of 10 articles met the inclusion criteria. Children with DCD showed significant impairments in visual integration, tactile integration, proprioceptive integration, auditory integration, vestibular integration, and oral integration processes when compared with typically developing children. Evidence also supported that sensory processing impairments were associated with poor motor coordination in DCD. Preliminary support indicated that DCD have sensory processing impairments in visual, tactile, proprioceptive, auditory, and vestibular areas, which might contribute to participation restriction in motor activities. It is important to apply sensory integration therapy in rehabilitation programs for DCD in order to facilitate participation in daily activities.