Activity participation intensity is associated with skeletal development in pre-pubertal children with developmental coordination disorder.
OBJECTIVE
This study aimed (1) to compare the skeletal maturity and activity participation pattern between children with and without developmental coordination disorder (DCD); and (2) to determine whether activity participation pattern was associated with the skeletal development among children with DCD.


METHODS
Thirty-three children with DCD (mean age: 7.76 years) and 30 typically developing children (mean age: 7.60 years) were recruited. Skeletal maturity was assessed with the Sunlight BonAge system. Motor ability was evaluated by the Movement assessment battery for Children-2 (MABC-2). Participation patterns were evaluated using the Children Assessment of Participation and Enjoyment assessment. Analysis of variance was used to compare the outcome variables between the two groups. Multiple regression analysis was performed to examine the relationship between skeletal development, motor performance and activity participation intensity in children with DCD.


RESULTS
The DCD group had significantly delayed skeletal development, lower MABC-2 derived scores, and participated less intensely in various types of physical activities than their typically developing peers. After accounting for the effects of age and sex, activity participation intensity score remained significantly associated with delay in skeletal development, explaining 28.0% of the variance (F(change1, 29)=11.341, p=0.002).


CONCLUSIONS
Skeletal development is delayed in pre-pubertal children with DCD. Limited activity participation intensity appears to be one of the contributing factors.
Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong.
William W N
WW
Tsang
X
X
Guo
Shirley S M
SS
Fong
Kwok-Kei
KK
Mak
Marco Y C
MY
Pang
D000365:Age Determination by Skeleton; D001848:Bone Diseases, Developmental / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D002648:Child; D015897:Comorbidity; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009043:Motor Activity; D019957:Motor Skills Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D010809:Physical Fitness; D004856:Postural Balance; D011627:Puberty; D012016:Reference Values