Efficacy of the cognitive orientation to daily occupational performance with Brazilian children with developmental coordination disorder

Abstract

Background: Children with Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) have difficulties performing daily activities which reflects negatively on participation, impacting their lives.

Objectives: To examine the effects of the cognitive orientation to daily occupational performance Approach (CO-OP Approach) protocol on occupational performance and satisfaction of Brazilian children who have DCD; to examine whether children could transfer strategies and skills learned during CO-OP to untrained goals.

Methods: A pre-post group comparison design with eight boys aged 6–10 years old. Children participated in 12 CO-OP sessions with their parents twice a week, with an extra session added to the protocol for parents´ orientation. The Canadian Occupational Performance Measure and the Performance Quality Rating Scale were used as outcome measures. The study was registered by the United States Institutes of Health at ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT03112746).

Results: Intervention resulted in higher, clinically and statistically significant, occupational performance measures according to parents, children’s, and external evaluators’ perspectives. All children improved occupational performance on their selected goals and five children could transfer the ability to use cognitive strategies to tasks not addressed in therapy.

Conclusions: This study provides initial directions for future research to investigate the applicability and to implement CO-OP approach on pediatric settings in Brazil.

Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT03112746.

Keywords:

• Child
• goal
• intervention
• motor skills disorder
• occupational therapy
• cognitive therapy

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank all children and families for their unique contributions to this research.

Disclosure statement

The authors report no conflicts of interest.

Sponsor

Federal University of Minas Gerais.

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported by Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) under Grant 135290/2009-0.