The main objective of this study is to compare the motor performance of children aged 4 to 12 years with ASD with those of typical children in the same age group.
This is a cross-sectional, quasi-experimental study of exploratory character, approved by the research ethics committee of the Universidade Estadual do Centro-Oeste. The convenience sample consisted of 48 children, 24 typical and 24 with confirmed clinical diagnosis of autism. For the evaluation of motor performance, the Timed up and Go test (TUG), the Dynamic Gait Index (DGI), the Pediatric Balance Scale (PBS) and the Box and Block Test (BBT) were used. The data analysis was performed using SPSS version 21.0 for Windows. The test results obtained in children with ASD and typical children were compared by means of the independent t-test. The data of children with ASD were also correlated with their level of support and age, using the Spearman correlation test. The significance level was established at p0.05.
The mean age of the children included was 6.7 (±2.5) years, for both groups. The level of support of children with ASD ranged from 1 to 3, most (n=11) with support level 1. In all variables tested, children with ASD showed significantly lower motor performance than typical children (p>0.05). As expected, age had a significant relationship with motor performance, but in the present study this bias was controlled since the ages of children with ASD were paired with the age of typical children. The level of support also showed a strong correlation (p>0.01) with motor performance of children with ASD included in this study.
The present study confirmed that children with ASD have a lower motor performance than typical children of the same age, even the great majority of the children included presenting level 1 support.
Identifying the motor disabilities presented by children with ASD is of extreme importance for physiotherapy, so that strategic therapeutic objectives can be outlined.
Motor disability
Children
