A Characterization of Movement Skills in Obese Children With and Without Prader-Willi Syndrome

Abstract

Purpose: The aim of this study was twofold: (a) to measure and compare motor proficiency in obese children with Prader-Willi syndrome (OB-PWS) to that in obese children without PWS (OB), and (b) to compare motor proficiency in OB-PWS and OB to normative data. Method: Motor proficiency was measured using the Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency-Second Edition-Complete Form, a norm-referenced assessment of motor function. Participants were 18 OB-PWS and 44 OB (8 to 11 years of age). The scores on the 8 subtests and the total motor composite were used to compare OB-PWS and OB. Furthermore, the scores on the 4 motor-area composites were used to compare OB-PWS and OB against normative data. Results: OB-PWS scored significantly lower than OB across all 8 subtests. OB-PWS also had significantly lower motor proficiency scores on all motor-area composites when compared with the normative sample. OB-PWS most frequently (67%–83%) scored well below average on the gross motor subtests. Although not as high as on the gross motor subtests, this finding also held true for the fine motor subtests with 39% to 45% of OB-PWS scoring well below average. Conclusion: Motor proficiency is very poor in OB-PWS, in particular for gross motor skills. Physical, neurological, and developmental characteristics inherent to the syndrome may explain this low performance.

Keywords::

• Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency
• fine motor skills
• gross motor skills
• motor proficiency

Acknowledgments

We wish to express a sincere thank you to all the participants in the study and to Alex Riegle, Lindsay Schroeder, M.Sc., and Pamela Wright, M.Sc., for their assistance with data collection.

Funding

The authors are funded by the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command Awards W81XWH-09-1-0682 (DAR, DJR) and W81XWH-11-1-0765 (MYL).

ORCID

Melanie Y. Lam http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4420-9124

Daniela A. Rubin http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1578-8251

Andrea T. Duran http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1214-1914

Frank A. Chavoya http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0171-6943

Elizabeth White http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0249-4038

Debra J. Rose http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9845-9255

Notes

¹ Test–retest reliability of the BOT-2 was previously established in obese children and adolescents with PWS who were aged 8 to 16 years old (see White et al., 2012).

² We examined the possibility of an influence of growth hormone therapy in PWS on overall motor proficiency (see Table 4). We found that of the 3 participants with OB-PWS who scored “below average,” 2 were on growth hormone therapy while the other 1 had taken growth hormone therapy in the past but was not presently on growth hormone. Of the 15 who scored “well below average,” 11 were presently on growth hormone therapy, 3 had taken growth hormone therapy in the past (but were not presently on growth hormone therapy), and 1 did not report growth hormone therapy status. These findings would suggest that growth hormone status is not a potential explanation for the 3 participants who scored “below average.”