Improving the coordination of children with DCD

• Research type

  Research Study

• Full title

  Training eye-movements to improve the coordination of children with and without Developmental Coordination Disorder

• IRAS ID

  171060

• Sponsor organisation

  Liverpool Hope University

• Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier

  N/A, N/A

• Duration of Study in the UK

  0 years, 9 months, 1 days

• Research summary

  Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) affects 5-15% of primary school children. The core characteristic of the disorder involves a marked impairment in the performance of motor skills. Children with DCD tend to avoid social and physical activities and are at higher risk of suffering from obesity and coronary vascular disease than typically developing (TD) children. One of the primary functional approaches to understanding DCD, the cognitive motor approach, which emphasises impairments in the planning and execution of movement. Research in sport has demonstrated that accurate and efficient gaze behaviour (the Quiet Eye; QE) is a pre-requisite for the successful planning and execution of movements. Our pilot work has revealed that 10 year-old children with high movement coordination do indeed have earlier and longer quiet eye periods (more effective eye movements) compared to their low movement coordination counterparts. We have also shown that we can train poorly coordinated children to be more coordinated in their catching by optimising their eye movements through video-based instructions. Our latest work has applied this intervention to children with DCD. In this study, we again showed that QE training was an effective method for improving catching performance of children with DCD and that by optimising the eye movements of these children improved their catching coordination (indexed by more optimal elbow angles when catching). In this next study we aim to explore the effects of QET using more sophisticated measures of coordination such as muscular activity (EMG) and 3D kinematic analysis during the task. This approach will give us a greater understanding of exactly how the QET optimises throwing and catching and may also give a greater insight into the visuomotor difficulties typical in children with DCD.

• REC name

  North West - Greater Manchester South Research Ethics Committee

• REC reference

  15/NW/0279

• Date of REC Opinion

  14 May 2015

• REC opinion

  Further Information Favourable Opinion