Position Sense Dysfunction Affects Proximal and Distal Arm Joints in Children with Developmental Coordination Disorder

ABSTRACT

It is unclear, whether proprioceptive dysfunction in developmental coordination disorder (DCD) is localized affecting only specific joints or whether it is generalized affecting proximal and distal joints. Thus, this study assessed position sense acuity at the elbow and wrist in twenty children with DCD (age: 9–11 yrs.) using a joint position matching paradigm. Position sense bias (systematic error) at either joint was not significantly higher in DCD children when compared to typically developing children (TD). However, DCD children exhibited significantly lower position sense precision (random error) than TD children at both elbow and wrist. That is, response reliability to proprioceptive stimuli is altered in DCD. Our findings are consistent with a view that proprioceptive dysfunction in DCD is generalized in nature.

Keywords:

• childhood
• motor control
• movement
• proprioception
• somatosensory

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The wrist manipulandum was developed at Human Sensorimotor Control Lab by JK and staff. We sincerely thank the staff and the children of Hanmin Elementary School in Kaohsiung, Taiwan for their support and participation.

FUNDING

This study was supported by a doctoral dissertation research grant from the Center for Translational Sensory Science at the University of Minnesota to YT, by research development funds of JK, CT and FC