Article

The aim of the study was to examine the prevalence of developmental
coordination disorder (DCD) at the age of 8 years in a geographic cohort of
extremely preterm or extremely-low-birthweight (EP/ELBW) children and a term-born
comparison group, as well as associated academic outcomes, parents' perceptions
of motor performance, and changes in prevalence during the 1990s. METHOD:
Moderate DCD was defined as a score below the 5th centile on the Movement
Assessment Battery for Children in children without cerebral palsy or
intellectual impairment. DCD rates were compared in a group of 132 8-year-old
children born in 1997 at 22 to 27 weeks' gestation or birthweight of less than
1000 g (49% male, 51% female) and a comparison group of 154 term-born children
(55% male, 45% female). The Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children - 4th
edition and the Wide Range Achievement Test - 3rd edition were used to measure
academic and cognitive outcomes. Parental perceptions of motor performance were
measured using the physical function scale of the Child Health Questionnaire,
parent-report form (CHQ PF50). The results for children with and without DCD were
then compared. To assess changes in prevalence throughout the 1990s, DCD rates
were compared with those found in children from the same region born in 1991 to
92. RESULTS: The mean number of completed weeks of gestation in the EP/ELBW
children and in the comparison group of term-born children for whom data were
available for analysis was 26.5 (SD 1.9) and 39.2 (SD 1.1) respectively, and the
mean birthweight was 830 g (SD 163) and 3511 g (SD 462) respectively. The
prevalence of DCD was 16% in the EP/ELBW group and 5% in the comparison group
(odds ratio 3.45; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.47-8.09%). Academic outcomes for
reading, spelling, and arithmetic were poorer among children with DCD than among
those without DCD (mean difference [95% CI] 10.2 [0.9-19.7; p=0.03], 8.9
[2.2-15.5; p=0.01], and 7.9 [1.4-14.5; p=0.02] respectively). Parental
perceptions were poorly predictive of DCD. INTERPRETATION: EP/ELBW children have
higher rates of DCD and experience more academic difficulties than term-born
children. As parental perceptions are not a reliable screen, clinical assessments
of motor skills in this vulnerable population are important.
CI - (c) The Authors. Journal compilation (c) Mac Keith Press 2010.

Langue : ANGLAIS