Relationship between motor function, self-care, and social function in children with developmental disabilities

The purpose of this study was to clarify the relationship between motor function, self-care, and social function in children with developmental disabilities.

Thirty-six children with developmental disabilities (24 boys and 12 girls; mean age 4.6±1.1 years) who were able to undergo evaluation at the center were included in the study. The survey items included general characteristics, such as age and sex, motor skills (domain standard scores and sub-domain gross motor v-score/fine motor v-score) on the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales Second Edition (VABS-Ⅱ) for motor function assessment, and self-care and social function assessment using the self-care domain and social functioning domain (criterion standard scores) of the Pediatric Evaluation of Disability Inventory (PEDI). Statistical analysis was performed using Spearman's rank correlation coefficient for the association between motor function, self-care, and social function, with a significance level of less than 5% (R4.3.2 CRAN, freeware).

The domain standard scores were 77.6±15.3 for motor skills, 11.8±2.9 for gross motor skills, 11.6±2.9 for fine motor skills, 33.8±13.4 for self-care, and 26.0±10.3 for social functioning. Significant correlations were noted between motor skills and self-care (rs=0.43, p=0.008), fine motor skills and self-care (rs=0.50, p=0.001), social functioning and self-care (rs=0.70, p0.001), social functioning and fine motor skills (rs=0.51, p=0.001), and social functioning and motor skills (rs=0.44, p=0.006). Gross motor skills showed no significant correlation with self-care (rs=0.33, p=0.052) or social functions (rs=0.24, p=0.162).

The mean range of motor skill scores for children on VABS-Ⅱ was 100±15 points, and the participants’ motor skill scores were relatively low. The mean range of scores for self-care and social functioning on PEDI was 50±20 points, which was also relatively low. Thus, the results indicate that children with developmental disabilities have mild motor clumsiness in early childhood and low general competence in self-care and social functioning compared to children of the same age group with no developmental disabilities. In particular, high levels of fine motor skills and self-care and social functions are interrelated, suggesting the importance of linking manual manipulability to tool manipulation and personal movements and supporting the relationship between these two aspects of intellectual and cognitive development. 

The results of this study suggest the importance of treating hand skills as they relate to hand development milestones and the need to understand their impact on intellectual and cognitive development.