The Relationship between Quiet Eye and Motor Performance in Children with Developmental Coordination Disorder

Abstract

Introduction: Final fixation prior the initiation of movement is called quiet eye (QE). Research has shown that quiet eye components are related to high level of expertise and performance. The purpose of study was to examine the relationship between the quiet eye and motor performance in children with developmental coordination disorder. Materials and Methods: In this descriptive-correlation study, 30 children at the age of 7 to 14 years were selected via multiple clustering sampling in Isfahan City, Iran. Participants were performed throwing and catching task to 10 trials. The data were recorded by an eye-tracking device when participants performing the desired task. We used Shapiro-Wilk test to determine the normality of data and Pearson correlation coefficient to analyze the relationship between quiet eye and motor performance. Results: There was significant negative correlation between catching performance and onset of quiet eye (r = -0.838, P < 0.001), significant positive correlation between catching performance and offset of quiet eye (r = 0.370, P = 0.044), and also significant positive correlation between catching performance and quiet eye duration (r = 0.849, P < 0.001). Conclusion: The result of this study revealed that the quiet eye can be considered as a predictor of motor performance in children with developmental coordination disorder.

Keywords

• Developmental coordination disorder
• Eye movements
• Motor skills
• Quiet eye