Developmental Dyspraxia clinical trials

Reliability and Validity of a Computerized Tool to Assess Proprioception Among Children With Coordination Disorders

Coordination disorders are common among children that arrive to child development services. Children with coordination disorders have impaired proprioceptive sensation and motor planning. It is important to carry out a comprehensive assessment of these children in order to design an appropriate and effective treatment. There is a lack of an objective and standard assessment tools for proprioception and motor planning. Technology based assessment tools might offer a solution, as they enable automated and accurate measurement. The purpose of this study is to examine the validity and reliability of a new diagnostic computerized kit, which was developed for assessment of proprioception and motor planning among children with coordination disorders. The hypothesis includes: 1. Examine the construct validity of the new diagnostic computerized kit (the known group procedure). Whether there is a difference in the outcomes between children with typical development and children with coordination disorders. 2. Examine the construct validity of the new diagnostic computerized kit outcomes - correlation with the following associated variables: (a) motor skills; (b) sensory function; (c) participation in daily activities. 3. Examine of test-retest reliability of the new diagnostic computerized kit. Whether the outcomes are stable in repeated measurements. The participants will include fifty children between the ages of 5 to 7 years: 25 children with coordination disorders (study group), and 25 children with typical development (control group). Each child will arrive for an evaluation meeting that includes: (a) the new diagnostic computerized kit; (b) standard and routine tests for motor skills (Movement Assessment Battery for Children-2-MABC-2, and two sub-test of the Beery-Buktenica developmental test of visual-motor integration- Beery VMI). In addition, the children's parents will complete two questionnaires: (a) Sensory Processing Measurement (SPM) for sensory function assessment; (b) Participation in Childhood Occupations Questionnaire (PICO-Q) for daily participation assessment. After two weeks, ten children from the control group will be evaluated once again by the new diagnostic computerized kit for examine test-retest reliability.