Comparing the Neuropsychological Features in Preschool Children with and without Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD)

Abstract

Background: Children with developmental coordination disorder (DCD) have difficulty in motor activity. Motor impairment is the main feature of this disorder. In addition to the movement problems, these children interfere with other areas of difficulty. The aim of this study was to compare the neuropsychological characteristics such as executive function and attention and sensory-motor functions, language, memory and learning in preschool children with and without developmental coordination disorder. Methods: In this causal-comparative study, the preschool children at the age of 6 years in Isfahan city, Iran, were enrolled. 50 children with developmental coordination disorder and 50 children without it were selected by multi-stage cluster sampling. Data were collected using Conner neuropsychological questionnaire and analyzed using multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA). Findings: There were significant differences between neuropsychological characteristics (executive function and attention and sensory-motor functions, language, memory and learning) in children with and without developmental coordination disorder (P < 0.05 for all). Conclusion: This study showed that children with developmental coordination disorder in comparison with normal children are at a lower level of neuropsychological characteristics and suffer from movement problems.

Keywords

• Developmental coordination disorder
• Neuropsychological features
• Preschools