A pilot study of motor disturbances in children with ADHD belonging to Chilean schools

ABSTRACT

The present pilot study aimed to determine motor control alterations in children with ADHD belonging to public schools, using Da Fonseca’s Psychomotor Battery (BPM). This was a descriptive cross-sectional comparative study. The sample consisted of two groups, each group composed of 15 children between 7 and 9 years old belonging to public educational institutions both with and without ADHD diagnosis. The ADHD group reached lower scores than the control group in all factors, with significant differences in Balance, Body Awareness, Directional and Temporal Awareness, and Gross Motor Skills factors. Children with ADHD between 7 and 9 years belonging to Chilean Public Schools show poorer motor skills than controls compared by BPM.

KEYWORDS:

• Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity (ADHD)
• psychomotor battery
• psychomotor
• motor control
• motor profile

Acknowledgments

We acknowledge the participation of all parents and children in this study. We thank the Municipal Corporation of Viña del Mar and Libertador Bernardo O’Higgins, Almirante Gómez Carreño, Enrique Cárdenas, and Villa Monte schools, which authorized and facilitated the realization of this study.