Motor Performance in South African Children with Cystic Fibrosis

Abstract

Aims: This study aimed to investigate motor performance in children with cystic fibrosis (CF) and the relationship with respiratory and anthropometric outcome measures.

Methods: A cross-sectional exploratory study investigated 12 children with CF, mean (SD) age 6.17 (0.67) years, using the Movement Assessment Battery for Children 2nd edition (MABC-2), spirometry, body weight, height, body mass index, and age-related anthropomorphic z-scores.

Results: MABC-2 total scores indicated 9/12 (75%) children performed below average (<50th percentile), of which 4/12 children (33.3%) had motor delay and 2/12 (16.7%) were at risk for motor delay. The balance subscale showed the lowest scores, with 5/12 (41.7%) participants performing at or below the 5th percentile and a median (IQR) percentile score of 9.00 (5.00–62.50). A significant negative correlation was found between the manual dexterity subscale and both height and height for age z-scores (p = 0.017 and p = 0.019, respectively), as well as peak expiratory flow in liter (p = 0.027). The balance subscale scores were positively correlated with forced expiratory volume in %predicted (p = 0.048). No other significant correlations were found.

Conclusion: Children with CF may be at risk for delayed motor development, particularly their balance skills. Poor lung function might affect motor development but further research is recommended.

Keywords:

• Child development
• cystic fibrosis
• motor skills
• South Africa

Acknowledgments

Authors would like to thank all the participants and their parents for participating in this study. They would also like to thank medical staff of the CF clinic at Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital for their support.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Lieselotte Corten

Lieselotte Corten is a senior lecturer in Physiotherapy, at the University of Brighton, United Kingdom. She graduated with a BSc (2009) and MSc (2011) in Rehabilitation Sciences and Physiotherapy at the Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium; with a major in pediatric physiotherapy. She worked in various pediatric settings and was awarded a PhD in Physiotherapy from the University of Cape Town (UCT), South Africa, in July 2017. In 2016 she was appointed as lecturer at the Division of Physiotherapy (UCT), teaching pediatric physiotherapy as well as supervising several undergraduate projects and master students. She is currently working as a senior lecturer at the University of Brighton.

Brenda M. Morrow

Brenda Morrow is a Professor in the Department of Paediatrics, University of Cape Town (UCT), South Africa. A physiotherapist by training, Brenda worked clinically from 1995 to 2006 at Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital in Cape Town. She developed a special interest in pediatric respiratory diseases, particularly in the context of critical care and the management of children with cystic fibrosis, and embarked on a Master’s Degree in 2001, which was upgraded to PhD in 2003. In 2005 Brenda was awarded a PhD for her dissertation. In 2008 she completed a two-year postdoctoral fellowship funded by the Medical Research Council of Southern Africa (MRC). In 2009 she was awarded an MRC Career Development Award to develop clinical research using electrical impedance tomography – an emerging, noninvasive imaging tool which allows real-time quantitative analysis of ventilation distribution. In 2012 she was promoted Ad Hominem to Associate Professor; and in 2016 to Professor.