SENSORY DISORDERS IN CHILDREN WITH DEVELOPMENTAL COORDINATION DISORDER: CUTANEOUS SENSITIVITY AND JOINT PROPRIOCEPTION

Fong S.S.M.¹, Cheng Y.T.Y.¹, Yam T.T.T.¹, Ki W.Y.¹, Ng S.S.M.²

¹University of Hong Kong, School of Public Health, Hong Kong, Hong Kong, ²Polytechnic University, Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, Hong Kong, Hong Kong

Background: It is well known that children with developmental coordination disorder (DCD) have various sensory disorders that affect their daily activities. However, no study has specifically examined the upper limb cutaneous sensitivity and joint proprioception in these children thus far.

Purpose: This study aimed to compare the two-point discrimination and elbow joint proprioception of children with and without DCD.

Methods: Twenty-four children with DCD (19 boys and 5 girls; mean age ± standard deviation = 7.6 ± 1.5 years) and 36 typically-developing children (20 boys and 16 girls; mean age ± standard deviation = 7.1 ± 1.1 years) participated in the study voluntarily. Two-point discrimination at the fingertip was assessed using a two-point discriminator. Elbow joint proprioception of the dominant arm was evaluated with an active elbow joint angle-repositioning test.

Results: Results revealed that there was no significant difference in the two-point discrimination threshold between children with DCD and the typically-developing children (p = 0.409). However, the DCD-affected children had significantly lower (101.9%) elbow joint repositioning accuracy than the control participants (p = 0.001).

Conclusion(s): Children with DCD’s elbow joint proprioception was inferior to their typically-developing peers while their cutaneous sensitivity at the fingertip was comparable to the healthy control children.

Implications: Proprioceptive training should be factored into rehabilitation treatments for children with DCD.

Funding acknowledgements: This study was partially supported by an ECS grant from the Research Grants Council of the Hong Kong SAR (27100614).

Topic: Paediatrics

Ethics approval: Human Research Ethics Committee, the University of Hong Kong

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