The movement assessment battery for children: similarities and differences between 4- and 5-year-old children from Flanders and the United States.
OBJECTIVE
To explore the possibility that 4- and 5-year-old Flemish children would perform differently from children of the same age in the US standardization sample of the Movement Assessment Battery for Children (M-ABC).


METHODS
Two hundred sixty-seven 4-year-old and 239 5-year-old Flemish children without known impairments, from regular schools, took part in the study (260 boys, 246 girls).


METHODS
All children were individually assessed using the M-ABC.


RESULTS
: The total M-ABC score of the 4-year-old children was similar to that of their peers in the United States. The 5-year-old Flemish children performed significantly better, although the effect size of the difference was very small. Of the 5-year-old children, one scored at the 5th percentile (0.4%) and 5.0% of the children scored below the 15th percentile.


CONCLUSIONS
United States norms are appropriate for 4-year-old Flemish children but require adjustment if they are to identify 5-year-old Flemish children with mild motor impairment.
Van Waelvelde
Hilde
H
Physiotherapy and Rehabilitation Sciences, Arteveldehogeschool and Ghent University, Belgium. hilde.vanwaelvelde@ugent.be
Peersman
Wim
W
Lenoir
Matthieu
M
Smits Engelsman
Bouwien C M
BC
Henderson
Sheila E
SE
D001530:Belgium; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002658:Developmental Disabilities / Q000175:diagnosis*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000592:standards; D019957:Motor Skills Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis*; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis; D014481:United States