title: The movement assessment battery in Greek preschoolers: the impact of age, gender, birth order, and physical activity on motor outcome.
abstract: Early identification of possible risk factors that could impair the motor development is crucial, since poor motor performance may have long-term negative consequences for a child's overall development. The aim of the current study was the examination of disorders in motor coordination in Greek pre-school aged children and the detection of differences in motor performance with regards to age, gender, participation in sports and order of birth in the family. Performance profiles on the movement ABC were used to classify 412 Greek children aged 4-6 years old. It appears from the results that the occurrence rate of probable developmental coordination disorders (DCD) was 5.4%. Significant differences were observed in all independent variables except the order of birth in the family. The findings reinforce the need for the evaluation of motor performance in preschool-aged children, in order specific individual motor profiles to be established for optimizing and adapting early intervention programs.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Education and Sports Science, Serres, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece. pgiagaz@phed-sr.auth.gr
authors.forename: Paraskevi
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Giagazoglou
authors.forename: Nikolaos
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kabitsis
authors.forename: Dimitrios
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Kokaridas
authors.forename: Charilaos
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zaragas
authors.forename: Ermioni
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Katartzi
authors.forename: Chris
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Kabitsis
mesh_terms: D017677:Age Distribution; D001722:Birth Order; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D005260:Female; D006115:Greece / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D009048:Motor Skills; D019957:Motor Skills Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D009068:Movement; D012307:Risk Factors; D017678:Sex Distribution; D013177:Sports / Q000706:statistics & numerical data