1. Sensory-motor synchronisation during walking and running to beats in metronomes in Developmental Coordination Disorder 2. Locomotor coordination when walking and running in children with Developmental Coordination Disorder (R-12852)

1. Intro / Background Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) is characterized by difficulties in motor coordination, conceptualized by internal-model deficit. In this view, coordination is regulated by sensory-motor interactions. It is known that children with DCD are inferior in synchronizing their finger-tapping with auditory metronomes. However, an unexplored question is whether these deficits in synchronisation and timing are also present during tasks of daily life, such as walking or running. Aims / Objective This research aims to investigate the consistency of synchronising foot-steps during walking and running to beats in metronomes, in children with DCD compared to typically developing children (TDC). Methods / Approach Children with a diagnosis or probably DCD from 8 to 12 years and age-and-gender matched TDC participated. Children walked and ran overground for 3 minutes in a 20x15meters oval-path, in 2 conditions (silence, metronomes). Synchronisation consistency was measured, and expressed by resultant vector length (RVL), a value from 0 (low consistency) to 1 (high consistency). Conclusion / Relevance Preliminary results suggest that children with DCD have greater difficulty with consistent synchronising their steps when running to metronomes. These results might suggest a core timing deficit underlying motor difficulties in DCD. Results of a larger sample might give more conclusive results given the large within-group-heterogeneity in the DCD group. 2. Intro / Background Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) is characterized by deficits in motor coordination. Children with DCD show frequent falls and their gait is described as awkward. Despite the reported differences in spatiotemporal parameters, no study has explored coordination in children with DCD during walking or running, vital for participation in leisure activities. Aims / Objective This research aims to investigate coordination by the phase coordination index (PCI), during walking and running in children with DCD compared to typically developing children (TDC). Methods / Approach Children with a diagnosis or probably DCD from 8 to 12 years and age-and-gender matched TDC participated. Children walked and ran level-ground for 3minutes in a 20x15meters oval-path. Physilog5GaitUp® sensors were used to quantify PCI, and the mean and coefficient of variation (CoV) of spatiotemporal parameters (stride-length, cadence). Conclusion / Relevance Preliminary results suggest that children with DCD have poorer coordination than TDC and an increased variability in stride-length and cadence when running. These differences might suggest that children with DCD have greater difficulty to coordinate running compared to walking.

Keywords:coordination, DCD, phase coordination index, running, walking

Disciplines:Rehabilitation sciences not elsewhere classified